SONIC Extra! S1E1: Prologue
by SG3MagicInk
Summary: First Episode of Sonic EXTRA! Sonic and Tails dipping his toes into high school and are doing just fine! However, old ghosts will come back from the grave to haunt them. Strap on your shoes, ladies and gents! It’s time to do it to it!
1. Prologue, pt1

Foreword:

Ok, so it's the last minutes of August 2, 2019 at the time of me writing this foreword. This is my first publicized work—like, really publicized. I've shown it to friends before and stuff, but that was before the overhaul. See, I was restoring some backups and reading them through (I was recovering from losing my main writing device—long story) and I realized something: 2016 me could not write for crap! So, I decided to overhaul the overarching storyline, write better character reactions a la Psych, and finally publicize this thing! Yay!

A little bit about me, I love video games, music, anime, superheroes, and all manner of combinations of those things. Before you can stop reading this, I apologize if the format is tough to follow, I have written in "halfway-screenplay" for over half a decade and I'm kinda stuck. Also, music WILL be a part of this in some way. Sorry for the long foreword, this all started back in fifth grade and I'm psyched to see it go public. Please enjoy!

**SONIC **_Extra!_

Season One, Episode 1: Prologue

It is 6:30 AM and the sun is juuuuust coming up. A close-up of a yellow anthropomorphic Fox sleeping, smiling happily. He's young, no older than twelve, and goes by the alias Tails. tablet resting on his nightstand in the foreground (currently acting as a digital alarm clock). The tablet flashes the time (again, 6:30 am) and starts playing "Do Ya Thing" by Gorillaz. Tails lazily opens one light blue eye and rolls off the bed, revealed to be wearing a pair of blue socks. He winds up his twin tails and flies up to the top bunk, which has blankets spilling over the sides and is just a general disheveled mess. A blue leg is draping over the side and the owner of said leg is snoring loudly. Tails pulls off one of his socks and smacks Mr. Top-bunk's forehead, waking him up with a start. Sonic the Hedgehog sits up and stares for a minute, dazed, and then snaps awake*

Sonic: FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

Tails: Yep!

Sonic, a hedgehog with bright green eyes, spines that seem to always stay slicked back and sharp and who never, EVER goes anywhere barefoot for safety reasons, jumps out of bed in a spinning whirl of blue. He barely lands on the floor before starting to rummage through his drawers. He searches through dozens of pairs of gloves and socks, turning his dresser upside down while he finds the right pair. Meanwhile Tails opens a drawer in his dresser and pulls out a single pair of gloves and a single pair of socks before putting them both on. Back over in the land of the household's Chaotic Neutral, Sonic finds the right pair of socks and gloves and hurriedly puts them on before ransacking the room at superhuman speed, searching for his shoes. Tails waits for Sonic to halt as he finds one shoe before walking across the room and putting on his own shoes, which were placed neatly by the side of his bed. Sonic finds his other shoe and puts it on before pulling the strap tight. The rest of the time, they get ready for the day in an orderly manner. Soon they are all freshened up, spines greased, equipment gathered, shoes strapped on, and books packed. Tails sets out two bowls with spoons as Sonic dashes to a cabinet and pulls out a box of "Chaos-O's" (a cereal made up of ring-shaped nutritious pieces as well as Chaos Emerald-shaped marshmallows in seven colors). Sonic pours cereal in both bowls before Tails pours milk on the boys' breakfast*

Sonic (grabbing his bowl and the sugar): Thank you.

Tails (eating his cereal as Sonic pours 6 spoonfuls of sugar into his bowl): No prob.

Once they finish, they head for the door with their school bags, both custom made by Tails to both their specifications. Sonic's is a red backpack that's definitely bigger on the inside. It has a string near the top of the bag with a hook on the end that, when pulled, makes the backpack squeeze down and shrink-wrap itself around whatever is inside it. This provides a good balance of carrying capacity and an aerodynamic design. Tails' is a light white and blue satchel that has a fabric exterior over a hard, protective polymer of Tails' own invention. It's about the size of a small suitcase and weighs around an ounce when empty. The strap has a flexible keypad with ten digits, and on the inside are movable walls dividing the schoolbooks from the many tools and spare parts that Tails has in the bag, just in case. As the two gather themselves and prepare to head off to school, Sonic's mom stops them*

Bernadette (holding up a camera): Wait! First day of junior year picture!

Sonic (groaning): Mom, we gotta GO!

the two smile back at Bernadette and wave as they walk away. Right then, she takes the picture. They run/fly down the street as Bernadette smiles at the picture of her two boys smiling and waving as they leave her behind for another adventure. Her face falls to a sad frown as she gets in her car to follow the hyperactive duo*

Meanwhile...

Sonic and Tails dash down a moderately busy street in an area full of apartment buildings and fast food joints. Sonic spots a red echidna floating in the sky with his arms stretched out in front of him, following them down the street*

Sonic (yelling after him): Knuckles! How's it going!

Knuckles: Hey, Sonic! It's going okay, I guess. This kinda blows.

Sonic: What, high school? I mean, it's school and all but I think it'll be a nice change for you. You should be excited, to at least some extent!

Woman's voice (offscreen): Oh, I'm excited all right!

a white-furred, curvy bat with full lips and wearing a healthy but not-too-much amount of makeup flies uncomfortably close to Knuckles with a sultry look on her face. This is Rouge the bat*

Rouge: How's it going, Red?

Knuckles scowls and steers over to a building, landing on it before he gets a running start, and takes off again to continue down the next block over. Just then, a black hedgehog speeds by on what seem to be rocket powered skates. The hedgehog would look just like a darker version of Sonic to the untrained eye, except that he has red stripes down his forehead, arms, legs, and along each of his spines (most of which curve upwards at the ends, while Sonic's obey gravity)*

Tails: Oh, hey, Shadow!

Sonic: Yo, wait up!

soon, Sonic comes to a stop at the entrance to the campus of Alicia Acorn Memorial High School, followed by Tails, Knuckles, and Rouge. The school looks like the weighted cube from Portal, being a square campus with four buildings shaped like L's that form corners of a box. In the center of the "box" is a square building housing the cafeteria. This campus will be Sonic's playground for the next several months*

Sonic (stretching his arms in front of him with his fingers locked): Woo! I'm feeling good about this year. A new era in our lives begins today, my friends!

Knuckles: Speak for yourself.

Rouge: Oh, lighten up!

?: Oh... my god. You guys look like idiots. You going on a hike or something?

The camera pans over to a green hedgehog with two scars running parallel across his chest in a backslash shape. He is wearing a black leather jacket with shredded cuffs and flames down the length of the arms. His eyes are ice blue and he has shades resting on top of his forehead. If he wasn't green, wearing leather and sporting dark green high-tops, he could have been a carbon copy of Sonic. He radiates a gangster vibe, and everyone is now scowling as this new arrival*

Knuckles: Is that the best you could come up with?

Sonic (icily): Grrr... Scourge, what are YOU doing here?

Scourge (flipping Sonic off): Going to school, the f*ck you think I'm doing here?

Sonic: I didn't think you were cut out for following rules or regulations meant to restrict your freedom...

Tails (suspiciously): How did you even get registered as a student?

Scourge: Forgeries can be bought with a few grand these days. Super convenient!

Knuckles (growling, clenching his fist): Why shouldn't I kick your ass right here?

Scourge: Relax... *his eyes lock with Sonic's, and they are angry* I'm only here because my prey is here. If this is what I gotta do to stay close to my prey, then I might as well.

Shadow (strolling up to the group): We have fifteen minutes to get to class, and I don't want to be associated with people who are late. I need my record as clean as possible before I fight whatever nutjob decides to come after us next on campus, which will land me tons of demerits. So I need as clean a record as possible to deal with as many threats as possible and if you—. *he notices Scourge* Who are you? Another Sonic look-a-like?

Tails: Yes and no.

Sonic: We met over the summer, and I hoped to never see him again. He's another iteration of me from another dimension, but make no mistake: he's nothing like me.

Knuckles pounds his fist into his palm*

Scourge (grinning evilly): Whatever lets you sleep at night. You sure as hell can't hit like I can.

Sonic: That's because you fight me without mercy, I fight you to get you off of my case so I can go home and eat a chili dog.

Scourge (looking over everyone's shoulders at something): Hang on, I have just found my next girlfriend.

He swaggers in the direction he was staring, sidling between Sonic and Knuckles with his hands in the pockets of his jacket. The gang keeps an eye on him with every step he takes*

Sonic: The hey is he on about—?

Sonic lays eyes on Scourge's target: a female chipmunk walking down the sidewalk. She has voluptuous auburn hair goes about halfway down her back and is wearing a white blouse with black shorts underneath a blue denim skirt. Sonic stands there for a couple seconds before Tails waves a hand in front of his face. When that has no effect, Shadow walks over and slaps Sonic in the face, reviving him*

Tails: What was that about?

Sonic: No time. I need to act.

Sonic dashes after Scourge, leaping into the air after a few paces. Once in the air, he quickly goes into a spin before shooting after Scourge and hitting him square in the back, knocking him down and knocking him out. Using the air gained from the bounce of the attack, Sonic pops out of his spin and lands gracefully on his feet before he runs back to the group*

Sonic: Okay, sorry. Had to take care of that first. Tails, I need you for reconnaissance! Get the radios out!

Tails: Can't you just find her during lunch or something to talk to her like a normal person? I have stuff I want to do and people to meet. C'mon!

Tails dragged a disappointed Sonic towards one of the corner buildings, leaving the rest of their group to wander towards their next engagements, confused as hell*

And so...*

Sonic sits in language arts class, slouching in his chair while Knuckles snoozes on his desk next to him*

Sonic (voiceover): You know what first days are like, everyone gives overviews of the semester, you learn your names, forget them all next class, and then it all starts over again.

Sonic is in the exact same position, just in another class and with Rouge resting her chin in her hand next to him instead of Knuckles sleeping*

Sonic (voiceover): Tails was in all kinds of classes. One freshmen class, a couple senior courses, a junior elective, and sophomore... everything else. So, basically, I didn't see him until lunch.

At Lunch...*

The cafeteria, the center of the cube, is... it's a goddamned high school cafeteria, what do you want? The painting is an ugly red on white, the lunch ladies are grumpy, and there are rows and rows of tables. Sonic and Tails sit across from each other at a table, alone. They eat in silence, Sonic snarfing in Chilidogs and Tails has some mochi he got in one of the Asian parts of town*

Tails: You know, we could be sitting outside in the sun right now.

Sonic: ... *munch* But we need to look *munch* for that girl we saw *swallow* this morning!

Tails (looking over at Sonic in disgust): ...

Sonic pauses in his eating to look to the look on his buddy's face*

Tails (gesturing at Sonic's lunch): What is this, a new stress-eating thing?

Sonic (through mouthful): So what? Women are terrifying!

Tails (facepalming): Ok... swallow, please.

Sonic swallows his mouthful of chili dog before Tails puts his hand on the back of Sonic's head and brings their foreheads together*

Tails (speaking Japanese): [Remember when I made you watch My Hero Acadamia?]

Sonic (also speaking Japanese): [...Yes.]

Tails: [Uraraka said that the kanji character for "Deku" looked similar to another character. Do you know what that character meant?]

Sonic: [Yeah... "I can do it".]

Tails: [Say that again! "I can do it!"]

Sonic: [I can do it!]

Tails: [You can do it!]

Sonic: [I can do it!]

Tails (speaking english again): Then JUST! DO IT!

Sonic (reminiscing): ...That was a good meme.

Tails (impatiently): Go!

Sonic gets up and begins to roam the lunchroom, searching for the chipmunk girl from this morning. A few seconds after he leaves, a female mongoose walks up to Tails. She has yellow fur, green eyes, and messy, shoulder-length purple hair held back by a black headband*

?: Is that seat taken?

Tails: It depends on if everything goes as intended, but go ahead and sit down.

the girl sits in Sonic's previous seat, directly across from Tails. He notices that she has on black and purple leggings on, a black crop top, headphones around her neck, and multiple piercings in each ear. He also has a thin chain around her neck. Tails follows it down to see if the girl has put anything on the chain and sees the broad side of a cyan guitar pick just disappear into her top as she gets herself situated*

?: Thanks, this place is packed. I'm not good with crowds... or people.

Tails: Oh, completely understandable!

? (Holding out hand to shake): I-I'm Mina!

Tails (Shaking her hand): Hi, Mina. My name's Miles, but everyone just calls me "Tails".

Mina looks over his shoulder at his two tails. Tails shrinks down a bit. He doesn't like people staring at his mutation, however much ass it has kicked. To change the subject, he looks at her headphones*

Tails: What were you listening to last on those things?

Mina (looking down at her heaphones): Oh, uh... K-pop.

Tails: Any specific group?

Mina: BTS. No ARMY's at this school, so it's been rough.

Tails: I've heard good things about those guys, but I don't know Korean so I couldn't listen to it properly and I think that's an insult to the artist.

Mina: That's too bad, there's a lot of good music people miss out on because of that.

Tails: Well, tell me if they release an album in English or Japanese and I'll go check it out right away.

Mina (surprised): You know Japanese?

Tails: Yep! I know we don't look it, but me and a lot of my friends either were born in Japan or studied languages growing up, so... yeah, I can speak both languages like a native.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I wanted to make everything about these characters as canon as possible, and Sonic was technically born (well, the idea was conceived) in Japan, technically making him Japanese. Since most Sonic games have either Japanese or English voice acting, I figured "what the hell" and made all characters that first appeared in the games bilingual. On with the show!*

Mina (pulling out her phone): Well, BTS actually sometimes release entire albums in Japanese. Here, look!

Tails (grinning in astonishment): No kidding! Would you mind sending me a few links later so I can check them out?

Mina: Oh, totally! What's your number?

Meanwhile...*

Sonic sees that auburn hair amidst the sea of tables and makes his way over to it*

Sonic: (How does she manage to keep he hair so floofy but still so smooth? Maybe it's just hormones, but she's driving me nuts.)

Sonic reaches the girl's table, where she is all alone. She looks up from her lunch at him curiously*

? (Smiling happily): Hello there!

Sonic: Heya! So, I noticed that you're by yourself a lot and I, well, kinda thought that was, um... *the girl tilts her head and raises an eyebrow, like a confused puppy. This makes Sonic even more flustered* I, um... thought that you being all alone was, uh, not cool so, uh... (Why is talking so difficult for me right now?!) What I'm trying to say is that if you're lonely, you can hang out with me and my buddies! I'm totally sure that there's someone you'll click with among the bunch.

?: Thanks, that so nice of you! Um... what's your name?

Sonic (smiling awkwardly): Oh, I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog!

?: Nice to meet you! I'm Sally. Where are you and your friends sitting?

Sonic (jerking a thumb back over his shoulder): Just over here.

Sally picks up her stuff and follows Sonic as he leads her back to his original table. As he approaches Tails' yellow-orange fur, he notices Mina sitting across from him. And he realizes...*

Sonic (smirking): (Tails is talking to a girl...!)

Sonic and Sally arrive at the table and the two already seated there halt their conversation right as numbers had just been exchanged*

Sonic (sitting down beside Tails): First day of school and you already have a girlfriend? Nice job, man!

Tails (as his face goes beet-red): She's not my girlfriend, we met two minutes ago and we were talking about K-pop. *as Sally sits down across from Sonic* Her name's Mina.

Sonic (waving at the new woman): Hi, you can call me—

Mina (cutting him off, eyes wide): Y-you're Sonic the Hedgehog...!

Sonic (smirking): So you've heard of me...!

Sally (surprised): Oh, are you famous? I'm sorry, I don't get out much—

Sonic (grinning): I'm a little hurt, but it's alright. There are even some Egg bosses that don't know me somehow. See, me and Tails here are globetrotters of sorts, traveling the world looking for adventure and fighting with Dr. Robotnik. Well... everyone knows him as "Eggman" thanks to me and my friends, ha ha!

Sally: Oh, I know about Robotnik! He drove my family away from home when I was little.

Tails: Hmm... where did you live?

Sally: In the capital of the Acorn Kingdom.

Tails (pulling out his tablet): That means... you were in the middle of the occupation of South Island!

Sonic: I remember that! That was before I met you even, and the first time I ever tangled with ol' Robobutt.

Tails: But then he came back to find that last Chaos emerald and I tagged along. Then we spent the next... what, two months trying to make sure that the Death Egg stayed destroyed?

Sonic: Hopefully she got out of there well before the fight moved to Angel Island. *snapping his fingers* Oh, shoot! I totally forgot, this is Sally!

Sally (waving slightly): Hi! It's nice to meet you all!

Mina (suddenly speaking up): Sir—S-Sonic, Mr. Hedgehog, I-I—

Sonic (chuckling a little at how formal Mina is): Just call me Sonic!

Mina (blushing slightly): O-oh, well, Sonic, you saved me and my mom's town from a badnik raid years ago, and I've wanted to thank you all this time and—

Sonic: Don't worry about it, it's all part of the job!

Mina (looking down): O-oh, well... thank you. You saved our lives that day.

Sally (turning to Mina): Where did you live?

Mina: Station Square! I was even there when that giant water-dragon flooded the city and was beaten by Sonic.

Sally (impressed): Wow, you've helped a lot of people! It's kind of hard to believe...

Sonic (grinning): Believe it, Sally! Every word is true.

Sally (rolling her eyes slightly): You know, Sonic, you have a lot of pride in yourself.

Tails starts snickering*

Sonic: Hey, what's that supposed to mean?

Tails (fighting laughter): She just called out your massive ego!

Sonic (slightly irritated): I don't have an ego! I just know what I do is totally awesome and that I'm the only one like me!

Tails (patting Sonic on the back): It's fine, we know you're awesome too.

And so...*

Sonic and Tails are walking away from a corner building, discussing their first day back at school. For the first time in a while, Sonic looks worried*

Sonic: I don't know if I can do this, sitting still for hours at a time every day...

Tails: Get one of those fidget cubes or whatever then! I'll even make a you a custom one if you want.

Sonic: Nah, save your time and materials. I'd probably use it so much that I'd break it within a week.

Tails (chuckling): Whatever you say, but we need to find a way to deal with your acute adhd before you drive your teachers insane.

Tails suddenly stop in his tracks and tenses up when he sees a set of pure white spines in the crowd. But as quickly as he saw it, he lost it the sea of hormones, puberty, and misery. Sonic notices Tails isn't following him anymore and backtracks to where he suddenly halted. He looks down at Tails with concern*

Sonic: Something wrong, buddy?

Tails: (That's weird...) ...I thought I saw Silver.

Sonic: Silver? I mean, I enjoy his company, but nowadays he usually only comes to warn us of some new threat to reality itself.

Tails: Yeah, but... why would he be on the ground? Doesn't he usually come swooping down like a messenger angel?

Sonic (still uneasy): Yeah... he probably would have found us by now if he was here, so we're probably ok.

Sonic starts off again and Tails follows him*

Tails: Yeah... we're probably ok. Still, I'm going to run some scans when we get home, even if it's just to make myself feel better.

Sonic: Yeah, yeah, whatever it takes, pal. *he plants his feet like he's going to take off running* I'm heading home now. You coming?

Tails (waving a hand dismissively): Nah, you go on ahead. I want to see if I can get some supplies from the science wing, and it's the perfect time to test out the new vessel, too!

Sonic: Alright then, see ya later!

Sonic takes off down the path, heading to the street and starting his run home at 75mph. As Sonic rounds the corner, Tails pulls out his tablet and hits a few commands to bring it to a DOS interface. A few more commands, and all he has to do is sit and wait. So, he does. He finds a nice bench on camps and just chills, leaning back and breathing easy. Still...*

Tails: (I still can't shake the feeling that Silver is here in this time. Maybe it's just my imagination, but I've got a bad feeling about this year...).

right then, his tablet gets a notification. He reaches into his satchel and pulls it out of a special pocket reserved just for it. It's a message from Mina. It's a link to YouTube. Tails clicks on it, and it's a list of 45 BTS Japanese tracks. Tails smiles to himself before reaching for a number keypad on his satchel's strap and typing in 3 digits. A small door opens up on the side of his satchel, revealing a small compartment. He grabs an AirPod case out of the secret space, turns them on, puts them in, and turns on some K-pop while he waits for whatever he set in motion to complete it's job*

Tails (closing his eyes and leaning back in his seat again): (It's the first day of school. Whether the sky's going to fall or not, today is when I celebrate two new friends and chill.)

To Be Continued...

SG3: Yo! So, this will be an adventure! I take constructive criticism, am looking forward to hearing what you think of this first part, and hope that we'll have a lot of fun in the future! Fair warning: I write slow, school is starting soon for everybody, and I'm going to be basically rewriting everything I've done so far so bear with me and thank you for your patience. I'll see you around! *waves goodbye*


	2. Prologue, pt2

Wave the Swallow sits in a corner of a very large room full of computers, servers, and technology made for storing data. Connected to one of the servers via a cable is a small laptop, which Wave work at, herself is a small, lanky mobian woman. She is a bird with purple feathers and a short, curved beak. Her analytical ayes dart back and forth in front of the computer screen, looking through her large, oval-shaped glasses at the data in front of her. Her outfit today is the same as usual, a white bandana worn on her head, making the long feathers on her head become two long pigtails that stop around her knees. She has a white tube top on, and completes the look with white bell bottoms with a purple flame design rising from the cuffs. Wave puts a hands free calling headset into her ear. She needs these idiots to listen to her*

Wave: Jet, You there?

Jet's harsh, squawking voice answers*

Jet (voice): This better be good. Have you found anything useful?

Wave (irritated): Yeah. I did. I found a weird tech signature matching that of an impossibly advanced artificial intelligence, but it's weird...

Jet (voice): What's weird?

Wave (putting in some commands on the keyboard): Well, traffic cams in the area show a little girl, around high school age. I thought it might be an Android being tested by the military or Eggman. But the signature... *she opens a file in Notepad. It is the source code of the signature she found* It's not military, I know that for sure. The code also isn't in the shape of any cheesy logos, so it's not Eggman tech. That means it's either not affiliated with any kind of superpower and is safe to nab, or it's affiliated with a whole new superpower the could screw us over further. So, Jet, what's your call?

Jet (voice): *sigh*... Wave, we're broke. We're so broke we have negative wealth.

Wave: You mean humongous debt?

Jet (voice): Whatever. The point is, money's tight. We're rationing our food, but Storm's just eating everything. So... when we snag this thing, we either sell it, or use it's tech to make ourselves SUPER BADASSES and we get EVEN MORE money!

Wave (irritated): So, we're snatching it?

Jet (voice): HELL YEAH, we're snatching it!! Get the boards, wake up Storm, and meet us at the door!

Minutes later...

Sally gets off of a bus in the suburbs and starts the five-block trek back to her house. Suddenly, she hears a soft humming from overhead, like the engine of an electric car. Out of nowhere, three individuals descend from sky on hover boards, surrounding her. They are all birds of some sort. One is a hawk with green feathers, a small, lightweight body, and a head and beak with an aerodynamic shape. The feathers on his head stick upward and outwards behind him before obeying gravity and bending towards the ground due to their length (much like Sonic's spines). His tail feathers are a short fan behind him. Everything about this bird's body is streamlined for speed. But the one on the left... he looks like everything about him was built to hurt people. He's tall, with iron grey feathers. The white of his eyes is instead a deep black, fitting well with the grey of his small, flat head with a short, wide beak. The feathers on his head fall behind him, similar to Knuckles' dreadlocks and his broad shoulders tower over Sally as he pounds his big, strong-looking fist into his other hand. The green one starts squawking*

Green bird: Wave, is it an android like we thought?

the purple bird, apparently called Wave, points a sleek-looking tablet at Sally and responds in an obnoxious, know-it-all voice*

Wave: You're the only one who thought that and you were wrong. The tech must be somewhere on her person.

Sally instinctively puts a hand on her thigh, probably protecting whatever is in her pocket. Jet grins maliciously*

Jet: Aha... what is it that you've got there, little girl?

Grey bird (looking sad): I-I thought it was an Ann-droyd too!

he slurs a lot of his words and doesn't sound too bright*

Wave: Then you and Jet were both wrong.

Jet (now scowling at the grey bird): Storm, just shut up and be ready to knock her out if she tries to run. *Storm, the grey bird, stops talking immediately. Jet steps off of his hover board and begins to walk towards Sally, his grin back on his face. Sally backs away, thoroughly unsettled and going through every terrible thing that could possibly happen in her mind*

Jet: Hey there... we're a group called the Babylonian Rogues. We deal in rare technology. Now, you have something that will make us very, very rich. Just hand it over, and we'll be on our way...

Sally doesn't move a muscle. Jet's "friendly" grin now turns into a malicious sneer*

Jet: ...Or Storm could break your arms and we could take both you AND the tech with us. We get the item either way, but you can either choose to go free or die in a warehouse full of smelly idiots. So... which is it?

Sally swings her backpack off her back and uses her bag to smash Jet in the face, knocking him aside and bringing him down to a knee*

Jet (rubbing his jaw): She's made her choice... Storm, crush her skull!

Sally looks behind her in horror as Storm's large hands reach for her. Suddenly, some sort of projectile smashes Storm in the side of the head, knocking him unconscious and throwing him to the side. Sally falls over in surprise as whatever hit Storm uses the ricochet to bounce over to Wave, hitting her in the side and knocking her off of her board. The thing ricochets again and soars straight up about twenty feet before zooming back down, hitting the other side of Jet's face, ricocheting away parallel to the ground before skidding to a stop and straightening up as Sonic the Hedgehog. He walks over to Jet, and lifts him off of the ground by the chest feathers, bringing them face to face*

Sonic: Is this what you decided to come to town for?

Jet: The hell are you talking about—?

Sonic: Me and Tails have known you were in the area for weeks! Now, what were you doing to her?

Sonic tightens his hold on Jet's feathers*

Jet: Owowow! We've been stealing tech and selling it to survive after you kicked our butts. Nobody wants to help us, so we're helping ourselves!

Sonic: So she has tech on her, huh? I guess this is the kind of lengths some people go to when they want the latest iPhone. Personally, I stopped paying attention after they made the 9, but you do you!

Sonic throws Jet on the ground*

Sonic: ...Now, get out of here...!

The Rogues scramble onto their boards and book it out of there as fast as their vehicles can go. Sonic walks over to Sally and holds out his hand for her*

Sonic: You okay?

Sally takes his hand and he pulls her to her feet, but she stumbles and ends up falling forward, grabbing onto his shoulders for support*

Sonic: Well, don't get too excited, they're gone already.

Sally (blushing slightly): I-I... w-what was... Why are you here?! How did you do that—who were those guys and how do you know them—?!

Sonic (motioning for Sally to calm down): Whoa, whoa, one at a time! I'll tell you while I walk you home.

Sonic starts to stroll down the sidewalk, leaving an awestruck Sally standing there*

Sally: It's fine, you don't need to—

Sonic (turning to look back at Sally): I know I don't need to, but I want to. You coming?

Sally falls silent and jogs to catch up with Sonic. After a few paces, they are strolling along casually*

Sonic: Now, let's address your questions. First, I was there because I saw them fly overhead while I was running home and figured I should follow them because whatever they're up to, it's usually not anything good.

Sally: You were running home? Wait, I left before you, I saw you when I went to catch my bus... yet you're here at the same time as me. How fast were you running?!

Sonic (looking up at the sky nonchalantly): Riiight, you don't know me. They call me Sonic because I can run fast enough to break the sound barrier! Nobody knows how or why I'm able to do that, but it's turned me into kind of a thrill seeker. Which brings us to your second question, of how I do what I did to take down those pigeons. That move I did back there is a little trick I came up with using my affinity for gaining momentum. I call it a Spin-dash

Sonic jogs up the path several meters and sits down on the ground, curling up like a ball and putting his head between his knees so that he is no more than a third of his normal height (maybe a foot and a half)*

Sonic: See, I can curl up like this from almost any position, be it standing, sitting, running at top speed, soaring through the air, whatever. And then I get myself spinning.

Sonic starts revolving in place, becoming a whirling ball of blue in less than a second and continuing to accelerate his rotation before shooting off as a spinball. He rolls along for a block or four before turning on a dime and, after some squealing as his spines struggle to gain traction, spin-dashesl back to where he left Sally. He pops out of his spin, traveling at a run before slowing down next to Sally and starting off down the street with her again*

Sonic: It's my most versatile move and my best attack. I can charge up in place, go at it spontaneously, charge up in the air and home in on my target, I can go for a fast and hard impact, I can spin so fast I slice through metal, and much much more! I've been teaching it to my closest pals since I was six. Tails can do it, so can Knuckles, Shadow... even a few robots I knew could do it. But as for your third and fourth questions—three, they are the Babylonian Rogues, the last descendants of an ancient civilization. They want to find their roots and become obscenely rich. Four, I know them because I tangled with them a few years back. I got to race on hover boards, we shot a city back into space, it was a good time!

Sally: Wait... into space?

Sonic (smiling): Yep. I've honestly had cooler adventures, but hey: they can't all be winners!

Sally laughs at this, and Sonic chuckles a little before cutting to the chase*

Sonic: Alright, we all know those guys weren't trying to steal your iPhone. What kind of tech do you have that attracts the attention of the Rogues...?

Sally avoids Sonic's eyes, unsure of what to do*

Sonic: C'mon, I've fought living water, been to space, like, five times, fought gods, been to other dimensions, travelled through time, and all kinds of insanity, so nothing, I repeat nothing can surprise me at this point. I'm sure that Tails would love to take a look at whatever gizmo you've got!

Sally (raiding a suspicious eyebrow): What do you want to see her for?

Sonic: OH, so it's a her?

Sally: U-uh, it just—

Sonic: *chuckles* It's okay! Tails is just a huge geek about these things and has so much fun looking at cool tech. I even enjoy looking at some of the cool stuff we encounter, even if I only understand maybe 10% of how it works.

Sally: She's not something for a little kid to gush over!

Sonic (smiling knowingly): You underestimate that kid... everyone always does and he trounced them.

Sally: So he knows what he's doing? He won't try and take her apart or anything?

Sonic: Nope, nothing happens without "her" consent.

Sally looks at her shoes, silent*

Sonic: (She's thinking it over. Like... seriously thinking it over. What exactly is the nature this piece of tech she has if she has to give it this much consideration...?)

Sally (looking up at Sonic): ...I'll talk with her about it tonight. I'll text you what she says.

Sonic: Awesome, sounds good!

Sally: Uh... can I get your phone number?

Sonic (blushing, but still smiling happily): Yeah, totally! Do you have a pen?

Sally pulls out a pen from a pocket in her skirt. Sonic takes it, grabs her hand, and writes his digits across her palm*

Sally: Thank you! Oh, uh... *she halts at a corner and looks down the intersecting road* This is my street. *she looks back at Sonic* Thanks for saving me and walking me home. I'll see you tomorrow?

Sonic (winking): You betcha!

Sally waves goodbye as she starts down the street. She turns into a driveway a few houses down and as she disappears into the house, Sonic lets out a low whistle before starting off his high-speed journey home*

That night, Sonic eats his dinner of celebratory chili dogs waiting for a text from Sally. He waits all night as he does paperwork for classes, discuss possible projects with Tails, jams out on his guitar, and as he is climbing up to the top bunk he called his bed, his phone buzzes in his hand. It's a text from an unknown number*

Text: Is this the right number?

Sonic (txt): That depends. What did she say?

Text: Is this Sonic?

Sonic (txt): Yes. Are you Sally?

Sally (txt): Yep. She says that tomorrow after school would work

Sonic (txt): Sweet! I'll tell Tails. 'Night!

Sally (txt): Goodnight

Sonic types this last message as he lies on his back on his bed. As soon as he sends it, he starts to chuckle to himself because getting that text made him happy. In the purest way that only getting a text from the gal you're in love with can*

The next day...

Sonic and Tails walk to their first class in the morning. Tails looks bored as Sonic goes on and on*

Sonic: —I mean, I've only known her for a day and she just makes me giddy! Maybe it's all the new stuff happening, 'cause you know I always get psyched about a new adventure, but maybe it's her... I dunno, I've never really had a bad crush on anybody. Maybe it's because everything Amy does is a turn-off, but whatever—

Tails: I say give it a month or two. If it still hasn't gone away, say something to her. *he pauses to think* Yeah, a month or two sounds good. You don't want to solidify yourself in the friend zone but you want to be on affectionate terms with her. It's a delicate game, but it can be won.

Sonic: How do you know this? I've seen you casually talk to maybe ten women in your whole life.

Tails: Amy calls to talk about every bad romance novel or Hallmark romcom she's ever seen, read, or heard the name of. I end up listening to her after I say you aren't home. Also, I... *he looks away, embarrassed* I've been watching some nice romantic anime recently. Mostly a lot of Kyoto Animation stuff. After the fire and all, I wanted to honor the work that they did.

CONTEXT: In August 2019, an anime production company known as Kyoto Animation (the makers of A Silent Voice, K-On, and many other highly acclaimed works) had a fire. Much of the staff was killed and the studio's fans send their love to the people who brought so much joy to their lives*

Sonic: You have time to watch anime?

Tails (going red): I put music or a show on while I work sometimes, ok?

Sonic (putting am arm around Tails' shoulder and smiling): Nothing wrong with being a weeb, my friend. Let's go! Sooner we get through this day, the sooner we can have our minds blown by TECHNOLOGY!

At lunch...

Sally follows Tails as he and Sonic walk across campus with their lunches. It's a nice, sunny day and they feel like eating outside today*

Sally: —so you better not do anything invasive, ok?

Tails: So I can't take her cover off, get a sample of her power source, dismantle and then rebuild her, look at her source code, anything like that?

Sally (appalled): N-no! Of course not!

Tails (looking irritated): So I can't do anything that I would usually do when analyzing a new piece of tech?

Sally: Oh, be nice! She doesn't get out much and this is scary for her!

Tails just sighs and follows Sonic as he makes his way over to their favorite picnic table*

A few hours later...

Tails waves goodbye to Mina, then follows Sonic and Sally while working on his tablet*

Tails (to Sonic): So, will you just carry Sally to our place, or are you two not at that stage yet?

Sonic: Well, what way are you getting home?

Tails (grinning and looking up at Sonic): Ooh, you'll love it. I tested it yesterday, but the receiver for the remote feature was broken so I had to fly home myself. I was up all night fixing it up and I think it's ready. Should be here in a few minutes.

Sonic: At least give me some hints as to what it is. Some kind of aircraft?

Tails (shrugging): I guess you could say that. I based it off of the Tornado II in terms of general design. It can't fly as fast as the planes, but handling is omnidirectional and much more precise. It also has a kart mode for ground travel. Think of it as a family vehicle, but with more... "us" thrown into every feature.

Tails grins proudly up at Sonic and he grins back*

Sonic: I can't wait to see it.

Sally (nervously interrupting): So, what's the "Tornado"?

Sonic and Tails both turn to her and answer in unison*

Sonic and Tails: It's my biplane!

Sonic: Wait... *he turns back to Tails* Which one are we talking about?

Sally (appalled): You guys have two planes?

Sonic: No, one each.

Tails: Legally speaking, at least. The Tornado I was as good as mine since Sonic never used it.

Sonic: Well, it's yours now after you wrecked it.

Tails (offended): Eggman wrecked it with a blast from the Egg Carrier! And I fixed it up for you, right? Now it's sitting in a hangar, perfectly fine.

Sonic: Why's it sitting there gathering dust if it's totally fine? Why do we never use it?!

Tails: Because it's obsolete, ok? If it got shot down once, it can be shot down again. I put it into storage for you so that your first biplane can be preserved for old times' sake while I can modify and improve MY plane, the Tornado II, to match every new threat we face!

after Tails' argument-finishing power move, Sonic falls silent, his eyes shining with admiration for his best friend*

Sonic: ...Thanks, then!

Tails: You're welcome!

the two fall silent and look ahead. Sally stares at the two incredulously*

Sally: *clears her throat* Um, I have two questions... First of all, what's the Egg Carrier?

Tails: An airship that served as a mobile base for Eggman years back. It stayed in the air for maybe a week before we shot them down, but he made some serious use of it!

Sonic: Yeah, a few secret projects, a whole line of super badniks [the E-100 series, armies and armies of regular badniks, all kinds of things... I hated it.

Sally: Ok... second question, Tails mods these planes? What exactly does he do?

Sonic: He's a kind of, uh...

Tails: I prefer to call myself an inventor-slash-tinkerer. I build things all the time and have all kinds of technical experience. If you want, you can ask any senior friends you have who are in robotics if they know me or not.

Sally (smiling and giggling): I'll be sure to... Hey, um... are you guys adoptive brothers or something.

a humming sound begins to surround the three, but it is still low enough that nobody takes note. Sonic and Tails shrug and look at each other*

Tails: I mean... basically, yeah.

Sonic: Yeah, we're best buddies until the end. We're essentially brothers nowadays, though. He's living with me and my mom now that we've settled down for school, and we have no clue where his real folks are so... yeah! He sticks with me and I stick with him and ain't NOBODY gonna—what on earth is that sound?

the humming has been getting steadily louder, and within seconds of Sonic finishing his inquiry, an aircraft floats down fifteen feet from the three of them. It's metallic like an airplane and modeled after the Tornado II as seen in the game Sonic Adventure 2, with a few differences. For one, this craft is red with a yellow stripe down the side and the cockpit is larger, able to seat four at a time. The tail is large enough for Sonic to lay down on like a beach chair. Perhaps the biggest difference is the fact that it is hovering just above the ground using four circular turbines, each the size and shape of automobile tires laying on their sides, all emitting blue light. Sally looks at this craft in awe while Sonic doubles over in laughter, speechless*

Tails (somewhat nervously): So... what do you think?

Sonic (standing up): Heh... a hoverplane. Nice. What did you name this one?

Tails: I call her "The Whirlwind".

Sally (confused): "Whirlwind"?

Tails walks over to his creation and gestures towards it like it's a game show prize*

Tails: Since it's basically a downsized Tornado, I wanted to name it as such. The Whirlwind has less speed capabilities than its predecessors, but boasts incredibly precise omnidirectional maneuverability provided by the new hover tech I'm working on. *he motions towards the turbines* It's perfect for weaving in and out of traffic and buildings. It also has a more room for cargo and seats more than any biplane before it! I put in three passenger seats and footholds on the tail for when Sonic wants to ride "traditionally".

Sonic hops up onto the side, steps onto the tail and sits down, leaning back against the tailfin with his arms resting behind his head*

Sonic: Alright then, Captain. Take us home!

Sally nervously walks up to the Whirlwind, and tosses her school things over the side and into the cockpit. Tails hovers over to her, his tails spinning behind him. He offers her a hand, which she takes. Tails lifts her over the side and sets her down in one of the two back seats before Sally realizes—*

Sally (eyes wide in astonishment): YOU CAN FLY?!

Tail drops down into the pilot seat up front with all the complicated controls in front of him*

Tails (looking back at Sally): Yep! Sonic helped me develop the trick. I can twist up my tails and then untwist them at such a speed that they work like a propeller and lift me off the ground! I do get tired after a bit though, so I prefer to fly in one of the planes most of the time.

Tails looks forward again and begins to work the controls so they can take off and go home*

Tails: (Of course, this feat is normally physically impossible, both in a biological and mathematical sense. Still, I've never questioned it too far and don't plan on starting now. It would ruin the magic of it!)

the humming of the turbines gets louder and louder as Sonic relaxes on the tail and Sally holds her seat in a death grip. The plane begins to rise steadily off of the ground. One it reaches a height of around five stories, it tilts ever so slightly forward and starts on its journey, gliding above and weaving around buildings at a speed of 25 mph. The journey to Sonic's house takes maybe fifteen minutes and every aspect of it was smooth as butter. Sally even got comfortable enough to take her nails out of the seat and look down at all the cars marching like ants along the roads. Soon, they are soaring over a suburban neighborhood and begin to descend towards the pavement. They hover above the pavement for a spell as the landing gear extendes to support the craft as it's turbine shut off and rotate, transforming into tires*

Tails: Everyone out! Sonic, can you take her into the workshop while I get her put away?

Sonic (standing up from his short nap and hopping from the tail to the ground): You got it!

Sonic offers a hand to help Sally as she tries to climb over the side of the craft, which she takes. Sonic pulls he rover the side and sets her down on the ground. Then he takes the lead, showing Sally through the garage (the walls are full of tools and various boxes occupy one corner) and into his house. The garage door leads to a cozy-looking entryway with a coat closet by the front door. To Sally's 10 o'clock is a flight of steps leading to the second floor, but before she can take in what a lovely house Sonic has, she feels a tug on her sleeve. Sonic leads her through a sitting room and past the kitchen before coming to a section of gray wall with a keypad next to it. Sonic enters some sort of passcode onto the keypad and the wall suddenly clears up. It is actually a set of two sliding glass doors that slide open automatically. The room behind them is dark, but Sally can still make out that this room is fairly large and that is has a LOT of stuff in it*

Sonic (bringing a fist to his forehead): Aw, crud. I shoulda let Tails do it, he loves showing people his workshop.

Tails: Nah, you're fine.

Just then, Tails walks between the two and intoto the lab. He walks to the wall by the door and feels around. After a few seconds, he flips a switch and the ceiling lights flicker on. They aren't large, white lights like the ones you see in classrooms that drain the life from a place. They're warm and cozy, casting a warm golden glow upon the room. The room itself is fairly large, about fifteen yards in width. It a counter along the entirety of one wall, the wall themselves made of whiteboards, chalkboards, and bulletin boards. All of these contain blueprints, notes, half-finished math, concepts, or just some nice photos Tails likes to look at from time to time. There are several easels in a corner, as well as a small pile of art supplies for drawing concept designs and schematics. In the center of the room is a large table. Tails presses a few buttons on the corner of it and several trapdoors in the table open. Robotic arms scoop all the mess of stuff on the table to one side, leaving a space for the three to sit at. Tails beckons for them to come in, and Sonic strolls in and sits on one of the many stools littered throughout the room. Sally, However, stays put*

Sonic (smiling warmly at Sally and motioning for her to come in): Come on! You've come all this way, we want to see this "she".

reluctantly, Sally slowly walks into the workshop and stands at the table where Sonic and Tails now sit. They watch eagerly as Sally reaches down I to her shirt and pulls out a leather strap and lift it over her head. She pulls out a small device about the width and thickness of an original GameBoy, but a square instead. It's iron gray, and Sally places it on the table with shaking hands and opens it up to reveal a small screen on one half and a small keyboard on another. The two boys stare at it in silence. Sonic has a confused expression on his face while Tails squints at it, rubbing his jaw*

Sonic: Wait, so... you call your old text pager "she"?

Sally (smiling warmly at the gadget): Nicole... ready to come out? These are the people I told you about.

the screen flickers to life, with no discernible user interface appearing and instead showing a green tint. Now Tails' eyes are bright with curiosity and Sonic's jaw has hit the floor*

Handheld: H... hello?

Sally (smiling and waving): Hey, Nicole! These guys are very nice and said they wouldn't study you or anything like that, so you're in a safe place.

Sonic (still visibly shaken): H-hi! You can call me Sonic.

Tails (leaning closer to the handheld): Hello! I'm Miles, but everyone calls me "Tails". So... your name is Nicole?

Nicole: Yes, my designation is "Nicole." It's nice to meet more organic beings, I don't see much use now that Sally is off at school.

Sally (looking hurt): Well, I still talk to you at home and stuff...

Nicole: And I am grateful for that, but I told you that I want to meet all the friends you make too!

Sally: And you are!

Tails (interrupting): So—sorry—what exactly ARE you, Nicole.

Nicole: I am an artificial consciousness created by a scientist named Dr. Eliddy. I do not remember much of him, but I have read up on his work. Quite impressive! He gave me to Sally and I've been her friend and mentor ever since.

Tails (intrigued and smiling): So you're an AI... but you don't even know of your origins? Do you have a source code or anything similar?

Nicole: I have many different algorithms that serve as my subroutines, and the coding always seem to change when new information is gathered. The greatest fluctuations are found in my emotional procedures, which I am still exploring the use of.

Sally: Tails, remember what we talked about—

Tails (turning to Sally): I'm asking her first! Please let me ask my questions, this is therapeutic for me.

Nicole: Yes, Sally, it's no trouble at all. I'll be happy to answer any questions Tails has. Tails, your statement was erroneous. I am not a person. I am an AI, a machine.

Tails: You're a complete mind with thoughts, emotions, and the capacity to learn and grow. You have mannerisms, friends, and a body. All of those sound like the qualities of a person to me.

Nicole: Perhaps, but I still do not possess an organic body or sensory organs. I am not able to see the world as you do, nor interact with the things in it on an intimate level.

Tails immediately grabs his tablet and begins typing something. Once he is done making the quick note, he sets his tablet down again and continues*

Tails: Nicole, I have an idea. It's a little ambitious and it will require cooperation from you, but I think you'll like it.

Sonic (quietly): Psst!

Sally heard and looks over at Sonic*

Sonic (whispering): Want to go get some snacks?

Sally (shrugging and mouthing): Okay.

Sonic and Sally quietly step out of the workshop while Tails begins to explain his idea. Sally follows Sonic into the kitchen where the latter begins to prepare a large bowl of popcorn. While Sonic gets the bag of microwave popcorn ready, Sally tries to make small talk*

Sally (eyes wandering around the room): So... your house is nice.

Sonic (walking away from the microwave): Yeah, it's got great insulation and wiring, it's almost soundproof, and the foundation is as solid as you could ever want. My Uncle Chuck chose it when the whole mess with Eggman settled down. He lives with my mom now and just works on tech.

Sally: Your Uncle... he's an engineer like Tails?

Sonic: Yeah, Chuck loves to work with machines and stuff like that. When he's not trying to make some new gizmo or gadget, he takes on freelance jobs. Repairs, commissions for gadgets, that kind of thing. Tails is different though. He's the fastest learner I know and 'm pretty sure he knows the basics to nearly every field of science imaginable. He was in an apprenticeship with my Uncle for a while and they still like to work on stuff together sometimes.

Sonic walks over to the pantry and begins to rifle through it while he continues talking*

Sonic: So, what do your folks do?

Sally's eyes widen and she casts her gaze around, trying not to make eye contact*

Sally: Um, my mom has been missing for as long as I can remember, uh—

Sonic (walking away from the pantry with a mountain of snacks balanced tentatively in his arms): Oh... that's a bummer, I'm sorry to hear that.

Sally: It's fine, I was too young to know much about her. But my dad, he's an, um... he's a board chairman.

Sonic (dumping all the snacks on the counter and sorting through them): What board is he on?

Sally: Uh, he's—

At this time, Tails marches into the kitchen and grabs a bagel cup from Sonic's pile of foodstuffs*

Tails: Sally, we need to exchange numbers so I can more easily communicate with Nicole. Also, if we want to get this done as soon as we want, it would be great if you could bring Nicole over after school for a couple weeks or so until it's done.

Sally (thoroughly bewildered): O-ok, uh... why?

Tails (pulling up his tablet): We're working on a project together—ready for the number!

Sally recites her phone number to Tails*

Sally: So what kind of project are we talking about—

Tails (looking up at Sally with excitement in his eyes): We're crafting a body for Nicole, one she can use whenever she wants. Normally I'd do this kind of thing on my own, but I want her input on it. So, does this work?

Sonic: Yeah... yeah, that's a good idea! Sally and I can work on homework together, you get to work with Nicole, it's a win-win!

Sally: I'll have to ask my dad about it, but... *Sally smiles* if Nicole's in, I am!

Tails (pumping his fist): Yes!! Thank you so much Sally, you won't regret this one bit!

Sonic (a fist shooting into the air): ALRIGHT! This is gonna be AWESOME! So, should we start on some work now while you take care of the preliminary stuff?

Tails: Nah, we need to get Sally home so she can pitch this to her dad. I'll take care of the pre-lab work so me and Nicole can get right to it tomorrow.

Sonic (pointing dramatically): TO THE WHIRLWIND!

Tails (shaking head and gesturing towards the workshop): Nonono, I need to get this stuff started now. You need to take Sally home yourself.

Sonic (dropping his arm and staring at Tails incredulously): Wait, like, carry her? I thought we agreed we weren't there yet!

Tails (working on his tablet with a stylus): Too late, I'm already in too deep to stop now.

Sonic (gesturing at the tablet): Oh, come on! That wasn't even enough time to start an equation.

Tails turns around the tablet and looks Sonic dead in the eye with a piercing gaze. The tablet reads in handwritten text, "I'm trying to help you out here." Sonic stares at the tablet, then at Tails before looking at Sally and smiling encouragingly*

Sonic: You up for it?

Sally blushes heavily but nods vigorously all the same*

Sonic looks at Sally, then at Tails, puts his hands on his hips and says to the space between his two friends—*

Sonic: Cool!

Tails walks back to the workshop, his face buried in his tablet while Sonic and Sally head towards the front door*

Tails (grinning to himself): I may have to quit robotics for this...

To Be Continued...

SG3: Woo! This is gonna be slow going, but I'm happy with where this is going so far. I'm trying to have a good balance of fluff, humor, drama, and action. Some arcs may lean more towards one theme or the other, but they'll all generally have the same elements. I'm really excited to write all the sweet fights I have planned. I'm also trying to keep things as canon to the source material as possible. Sonic and all their friends have already been through most of the events of the games (I'm excluding Sonic Forces, so basically anything before the end of Archie Comics' Sonic series). Ages are pretty close to canon, some of the mechanics of people's abilities will follow more logical roles, and I'm overall really satisfied with the world I'm gonna build with y'all. Please review if you have comments or questions, I live off of your feedback. I'll see you around. *waves* Bye!


	3. Prologue, pt3

As Sonic turns onto a suburban street lined with decent-sized houses, he slows to a walk before setting a petrified Sally down onto solid ground from the princess-carry he had her in. She shakily secures her backpack on her shoulders and starts walking down the street while Sonic just smirks at her*

Sally: How can you stand to go that fast? How can you see where you're GOING with that wind?

Sonic: Most of the time I'm going faster than the wind, so it isn't really a problem. For any other time, though... I guess I've just built up an immunity to it, haha!

Sally (looking sideways at Sonic): Ha, an immunity to the wind?

Sonic: It's best not to look into it too much. I run fast, I love it, and I don't want to change that for a second.

Sally (staring at her shoes): Seems kinda stupid to not ask the questions that are right in front of you.

Sonic (stretching his arms into the sky): Yeah, well it takes an idiot to do cool things. That's why it's cool!

Sally starts laughing*

Sally (clutching her stomach): Ha ha ha ha ha! You're such a dork...

Sonic (smiling warmly at Sally and giving her double finger guns): Only for you.

Nicole is slung over Sally's shoulder again like a satchel, and chooses this time to speak up*

Nicole: Sally, we have arrived at our house.

Sally's smile fades as she stops in front of a white, two-story wooden house with a shaded porch*

Sally (looking back to Sonic with a glum expression): I wish I could have talked with you longer. You're a great friend, Sonic.

Sonic: Aww, thanks! So are you, you know.

Blood rushes to Sally's face, and she has no idea why*

Sally (fidgeting with her hands): Well, uh, see you tomorrow!

Sonic (waving): See ya!

Sally turns and walks briskly up her front path. Once the door has closed, Sonic fidgets a little, jumps into the air and pumps his fist in celebration before beginning the run home*

Later that evening...

Tails sits on the edge of his bottom bunk, his elbows propped up on his knees and his chin resting in his hands as Sonic paces back and forth excitedly*

Tails: So you quoted Fooly Cooly before flirting with her ever so subtly?

Sonic stops pacing and looks sideways at Tails

Sonic: What's Fooly Cooly?

Tails gets the biggest smirk on his face*

Tails: So you just came up with that on the spot and it landed—? Anyway, Fooly Cooly is the weirdest show ever, and you're gonna love it. You are now my new side project!

Sonic (raising an eyebrow as he turns to face Tails): What's your main project, school?

Tails (his smile getting bigger): Nicole!

Sonic (chuckling a little at this): Heh, Ok, but what about going to school?

Tails (shrugging): That was always going to be moved to side-project status, it was just a matter of time until my next big inspiration showed up.

Sonic chuckles a little*

Sonic: But what does Fooly Cooly mean?

Tails just shrugs again before climbing under his sheets*

Sonic (climbing the ladder to his own bunk): I see how it is...

Two weeks later...

Sonic (Voiceover): Ok, things are going GREAT!

in the workshop, Tails sits on a stool, writing furiously on his tablet while a thin, lengthy, many-jointed robotic arm attached to the ceiling of the workshop translates what is written on a tablet onto the many whiteboards covering the walls. A glowing green figure sits on Tails' shoulder, observing his work. Not much can be made of this little sprite's appearance though*

Sonic (Voiceover): Tails says his project is going great considering the nature of the technology he's working with, so I can only assume it's well on its way. He hasn't told us ANYTHING about it though—he wants to surprise us with the final product or something, I dunno.

Sally sits on a couch, looking with intense focus at a notebook. Sonic lays on the ground by her feet, going in between looking at a history text book and jotting down notes in a binder, throwing occasional glances up at Sally's concentrating face*

Sonic (Voiceover): Since Nicole is taking an active role in the project, Sally's been here a lot too. We work on homework together, and she helps me with the stuff I don't know. ...Which is great because I haven't been to school in, like, a decade.

Sonic now stands by the couch as Sally sits cross-legged, staring up at Sonic with rapt attention and a smile on her face*

Sonic (voiceover): Occasionally, she'd ask me to tell her about one of my adventures, and I did. I figured that if I ever have kids, grandkids, or any nieces or nephews I should get some practice in.

Sonic (in-scene): So they had us all holed up in that little village of Knothole, maybe five adults and like fifteen kids. The badnik army from Eggman's attack on the capital was getting closer each day, and I had a buddy who would build traps and stuff. There was some cool stuff that he made: spikes that would come up if you flicked a switch, snares, live cables acting like tripwires, and all kinds of things! But those only could hold off the one or two stragglers or scouts that came our way. We needed to fight back eventually or we were going to die.

Sally: How many of the adults died before you decided to fight them on your own?

Sonic (rubbing his nose with his thumb): None. They were all too afraid, ha ha! But I had been sitting still and getting restless for the last few months, so if I didn't go out and do something outlandish, I was gonna die. And all the adults tried to tell me, *Sonic begins to speak in a high-pitched British accent* "Oh, it's so scary out there!" "Think of all those scary BADNIKS and all those horrid TRAPS waiting for you!"

Sonic pretends to swoon, and Sally laughs out loud*

Sally: So, what did you say to that?

Sonic (shrugging): I didn't understand what the big deal was. I said, "Yeah, I know all these things are waiting for me and it sounds AWESOME! Why can't I go then?"

Sally (raiding her eyebrows): Your idea of awesome is very different than the rest of the world's.

Sonic: Like I said, my speed turned me into a thrill seeker with self-diagnosed acute adhd. Anyways, the adults didn't care that I was the best fighter out of all of them, so at like 2 am I packed a bag full of snacks, my life's savings, and a few changes of socks. Then I left a note which nobody could read because I was six at the time and didn't know how to write well, so the note was pretty much pointless. So after leaving for seemingly no reason, I headed out to Green Hill and started on my journey to kick some Robobutt!

Sally (jaw dropping): So you just left?!

Sonic: What was I supposed to do, wait until the all-powerful ADULTS let us starve to death or get obliterated by Buzz Bombers? *he smirks* They all worried ten pounds off of themselves in the three days or so I was gone, but they changed their tune once I halved Eggman's badnik count, destroyed his biggest weapons, totally TRASHED his base in Scrap Brain zone, and got six of the Chaos Emeralds!

In the workshop, the holo-sprite hovers above the counter, writing in the air and commanding the robot arm to write more math on the board. Tails has his AirPods paired to his tablet as he listens to a live security feed from the living room, grinning to himself*

Sally: How did they react to your success?

Sonic: They were reluctant to let me leave again when Eggman returned. But he had the DEATH EGG this time, and they knew that I was the only one who could be them so they kinda had to let me go. And I got the last emerald and met Tails, which was awesome. After I got through THAT, things were ok. But then Eggman went to little planet. And that's when everyone started to be okay with me leaving to save the world. Tails and I met right before the whole Death Egg debacle, and he stuck with me as we kept traveling from town to town. So we spent the next several years traveling and beating Eggman wherever he stuck his head out. And we made lots of friends on the way like Knuckles, Shadow, Rouge, and a whole bunch more!

Sally: So that's why you and Tails are so close. You went on the longest road trip in history together.

Sonic (pacing around the room): Sal, our lives became road trips. Now we're back here, and stuck in the same spot for several months while the school year is going on. And Tails is already branching out and making new friendships and I couldn't be more happy for him! But I'm pretty sure we'll still be pals, even after he finds a hot girlfriend, raises a lovely family and gets like five Nobel prizes!

Sonic stops pacing and looks sideways at Sally* ...What?

back in the living room, Sally has a slightly surprised look on her face*

Sally: You guys are really sweet, with how much you love each other. Um... what did you call me?

Sonic (turning to face Sally): I called you "Sal". I thought it would be a fun nickname, but I can just call you Sally if you'd like me to—

Sally (sitting up and smiling): No, no, I love it! I've just... never had a nickname before. My household is very... formal.

Sonic walks over to the couch and sits down beside Sally*

Sonic: Well, I can assure you that you're warming right up to being a cool, casual cat.

Sally rolls her eyes and chuckles to herself*

Sally: I'm a chipmunk, Sonic.

Sonic (shrugging and learning back against the cushions): Eh, it's not always funny when you quip without a script. Sue me.

In the workshop, Tails smirks to himself*

Tails: I'll give it a couple more weeks before I make fun of him for this.

Sonic (voiceover): Not everything is good. Scourge took that comment from Shadow personally. Y'know, when he asked if Scourge was just another cheap knock-off.

in a classroom full of desks populated with mobian students, Shadow is bent over a test paper, working studiously. Scourge sits a few rows to the right of him, glaring at Shadow from his seat by the window. Sally sits behind Shadow, staring curiously at the back of his head as if in deep thought about his nature. All of a sudden, a piece of paper hits Shadow in the temple. The paper has been folded over many times so that it is now an incredibly small, thick, and dense projectile shaped like the point of an arrowhead*

Sonic (voiceover): Scourge has been harassing Shadow constantly, but Shadow's handled everything pretty okay so far.

Sally looks in the direction that the paper projectile came from to see Scourge smirking whilst putting away a rubber band (most likely what he used to launch the weapon) in a pocket of his jacket. Sally then hears sounds of movement in front of her and looks back to Shadow's direction just in time to see him climb up into a one-armed handstand on his desk, use his other hand to grab the back of his chair and twist it 90 degrees clockwise, descend from the handstand onto the floor while still maintaining his hold on the chair, plant his feet, and throw the chair at Scourge's head at a speed worthy of a professional baseball player's fastball. The whole thing is done in one fluid motion and takes less than a second to complete as the chair hits Scourge square in the face, flying through the window. The whole class erupts in cries of confusion and surprise as Scourge lays flattened across the sill with his head hanging out of the window. He has no idea what just happened and probably never will. Sally is too dumbfounded to speak, and just stares at this black and red beast in utter wonder*

Sonic (voiceover): But other than that green slimepiece, things are awesome!

Now, Sonic sits down at a picnic table outdoors on the campus. It's lunchtime, and Sonic waves at Tails after taking a bite of his sandwich. Tails sets his bag down, sits down and pushes a flier across the table to Sonic, who picks it up and reads it*

Sonic: "The Charity Club presents,"—bet you ten bucks they quit within three months.

Tails (taking his lunch out of his satchel): I see your ten and raise you another fifteen bucks that they disband in no less than five months.

Sonic: Deal *Sonic holds out his hand for Tails to shake while he continues to look at the flier* "the Charity Club presents 'Pizza For Puppies'. Purchase a large pizza at—" blah blah blah, address of the Dominoes, "—and one third of the proceeds will go towards the care of Mobini captured by the evil Dr. Eggman." *Sonic pushes the flier back to Tails* Is it getting donated to PETA?

CONTEXT: "Mobini" is, according to the Sonic Comic Encyclopedia, the name for the smaller animals (penguins, squirrels, birds (aka Flickies), etc) that Eggman uses to fuel badniks and are freed whenever Sonic defeats most enemies in his games (see Sonic the Hedgehog 1, 2, 3, 4, Knuckles, Sonic Adventure, Sonic Lost World, etc. etc. etc) WE NOW RETURN TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAM*

Tails (stowing the flier in his satchel): No, it's a local shelter, thank god. So, you think you're up for it?

Sonic: Why not? Pizza and charity are a pretty good combo if you ask me.

Tails (pointing excitedly): Ooh! We could invite our friends and make it a pals' night out!

Sonic (pointing at Tails): Totally! Man, this is going to be sweet!

Sonic (voiceover): So, we invited Shadow, Knuckles, Sally, and Mina to go and eat pizza. For charity.

it's evening on a Friday night as Sonic and Tails walk into your average Dominoes. Nothing fancy, just some tables around the room and a counter to order at. Tails walks up to the counter and places the tremendous order they need to feed everyone while Sonic pushes several tables together to make one long banquet-style table. After the orders are placed, Tails sits down beside Sonic as Sonic's mother and uncle walk in. Sonic's mom, Bernadette, is a purple hedgehog with yellow bangs. Tonight she is wearing a simple, knee-length purple dress. She has kind, blue eyes with worry lines on her face and a smile on her face. Uncle Chuck is a hedgehog whose blue spines have greyed, leaving him with iron-grey spines, a bushy white mustache and equally bushy white eyebrows. He smiles happily and looks around the place with his cheerful blue eyes from behind a pair of round spectacles. He has a brown leather jacket on and sits at the opposite end of the banquet table, knowing Sonic and Tails grew up being left to their own devices and function best that way

Chuck: You've got quite the crowd coming, eh? Think these bozos working here can feed them all?

Bernadette (sitting down next to Chuck): I'm just glad to not be the one cooking for you and all your adventurer friends.

Sonic: Believe it or not, we have not one *he holds up a finger* but two, *he holds up another finger* TWO normal people coming tonight!

Bernadette: I'm taking that with a grain of salt, but I'm excited to meet your new friends nonetheless.

Chuck (nudging Bernadette with his elbow): Come on, we all know this is a ploy to hide in plain sight as he introduces us to his new girlfriend.

Bernadette (smiling slyly at her son): Oooh, is this true? Is she pretty?

Sonic (blushing and looking anywhere but at the adults): Come on, cut it out Unc'... And you're better than this, mom!

Bernadette (crossing her arms): If you all can switch between being sensible men and being man-children with the maturity of grade schoolers, I can too!

luckily, the door to the restaurant opens at this moment and Sally walks through it, tonight wearing a knee-length pink dress. She is accompanied by someone new: an adult mobian squirrel. He looks to be in his late thirties or forties, his tail not as bushy as it may have been a couple decades ago. He has a stern face with worry lines etched into it and a small mustache adorning his tight lips. He looks around the room with disapproving eyes as his daughter sits down on Sonic's other side*

Sally: Hi, Sonic!

Sonic (lifting up his hand in a lazy wave): Hey, Sal! Uh, hang on a sec—

Sonic stands up, places his hands on the table, and uses it to do a flip over both the table and Sally. He deftly lands on his feet beside the grumpy man accompanying Sally and holds out his hand to shake*

Sonic: Hey! I'm Sonic. Nice to meet you, Mr...

at this moment, a green flash of light above the table causes everyone to jump in surprise and for Sonic to grab the nearest chair and throw it at the flash of light. Shadow the Hedgehog catches the chair, sets it on the floor, and uses it to step down from his perch and onto the ground*

Sonic (relaxing his stance): *exhale* Not cool, man! You can't just teleport willy-nilly, this is supposed to be a normal night for the normal people!

Shadow (walking up to Sonic): I will not lessen the use of the abilities given to me for the sake of others' emotion security. *smacks Sonic upside the head* Try to convice me otherwise, and you will be the one dodging chairs.

Sonic (waving a hand dismissively): Unlike Scourge, I can actually comprehend when a freaking chair gets launched at my head!

While Sonic and Shadow argue, Tails notices Sally's incredibly confused expression and leans over to whisper in her ear*

Tails (whispering): Shadow is able to use the energy of the chaos emeralds to teleport. Somehow he is able to generate this energy from his own body, but we have yet to identify how.

Sally (whispering back): How did he get like that?

Tails: Turns out he's a half-alien genetic experiment created to be the ultimate life form and as such is basically immortal. He is incredibly strong and durable, his rocket skates give him insane speed, he has incredibly extensive combat abilities and is able to use chaos energy to create explosions and throwable spears. *Tails rubs his jaw* Let's see, what else... he can teleport with Chaos Control, what you just saw, he has a very strong connection to the Emeralds and—oh, very important—do not mention the name Maria around him.

Sally: Considering what I've seen in history class, I'm inclined to believe all of that.

the lady working the counter of the restaurant calls an order, and Bernadette gets up to get the ten or so pizzas they ordered. At this moment, Shadow grabs Sonic's ear and drags him outside*

Sally (to Tails): Will they be ok?

Tails (as Sonic's protests disappear when the door closes): There are two ways this could go down. They'll either kill each other, or... *Tails falls silent and stares at the door* (Or there's real trouble and I should probably get in on this so I can help in any way I can.)

Sally (raising an eyebrow): Is everything... alright?

Tails (standing up and grabbing his bag): Yeah, everything's fine. Just making sure they nobody kicks each other's butts before dinner.

Tails steps out into the night air and blinks in the face of the harsh downtown lights. He looks to his right to see Shadow slam Sonic against the wall of the pizzeria by his spines, scowling angrily at the blue look-a-like*

Tails: Play nice, kids. What's going on?

Shadow (to Tails): I was just telling this melodramatic moron here that I'm not here to get fat eating pizza. Rouge is on a rooftop a few streets over keeping lookout. We got reports that there was a threat in the area and G.U.N sent us to check it out.

CONTEXT: The Guardian Unit of Nations, or G.U.N for short, is the peacekeeping military force that Shadow and Rouge work for. The two are part of a special strike team known as Team Dark, along with a powerful robot named Omega that rebelled against his original programming as one of Eggman's super badniks*

Sonic: Should we even be worried? It may be just the Rogues.

Tails: I'm not sure about that... why would they send Team Dark if it wasn't a big deal?

Shadow (letting go of Sonic): The accounts said that it looked like a new kind of Metal Sonic, but we don't want to jump to conclusions.

Tails (pointing up): I'm going to set up camp on the roof. Maybe I can catch it on radar?

Tails winds up his tails and takes off to see what he can't do with what he has*

Shadow (turning to Sonic): We should probably tell your adults that this has become a business outing.

Sonic (snapping his fingers in frustration): Ooh... right. *shrugging and grinning* Eh, we'll be ok. My Uncle Chuck can play a crowd like a bass guitar!

Tails (shouting from the edge of the roof): The saying is "play them like a violin!"

Sonic (cupping his hands around his mouth and yelling back): He doesn't play a violin though!!

the door to the restaurant opens once more and Sally walks out. Sonic freezes up. Didn't think about that*

Sally (chuckling to herself): Is everything okay? Why is... *she looks up at the pair of yellow ears poking above the parapet* Why is Tails on the roof?

Sonic sighs, turns to face Sally and places a hand on her shoulder. He hates the look of worry on her face, but it's time to go to work*

Sonic: Sal, something's come up. We're gonna have to—

Tails (unseen): LOOK OUT!!

Sonic widens his stance and prepares to move, as he sees three colored blurs descend from the surrounding buildings. One of them throws something at our heroes' feet, and all Sonic knows for the next few seconds are that his vision has gone white and his ears ring. He falls to one knee, rubbing his eyes and trying to orient himself. He looks up, and his vision clears just in time to see the Babylonian Rogues soaring away, with Storm the Albatross restraining Sally in a grip she can never hope to break*

Sonic : Shadow... what just... what just happened?

Shadow (bringing an arm down from his eyes): They must have used a flashbang.

Sonic (staggering to his feet): A what?

Shadow: It's a throwable object containing chemicals that emits a bright flash and loud bang when they ignite. It's useful for disorienting opponents, and it worked perfectly on us.

Tails (landing beside Sonic): Sonic, they got Sally. Are we going after them.

Sonic (glaring in the direction the Rogues flew off in): What kind of question is THAT?!?! Give me the radio, it's time to do it to it!

Tails enters a number on his satchel strap and pulls a small earpiece out of the compartment that opens. Sonic puts it in and charges a spin-dash. He releases and zooms across the street, hopping into the air and popping out of the spin ball just in time to grab the horizontal part of a street light, swing around it twice, and let go. Sonic soars onto the top of the three-story building across the street and disappears over the edge of the rooftop*

Tails (working on his tablet): Shadow, can you go in and disappoint everyone? I need to help Sonic navigate.

Shadow (scowling and starting towards the door of the restaurant): Fine...

To Be continued...

WOO! Next part is gonna be awesome to write, haha! A little bit of insight into my creative process for those who want to know: I've been trying to do descriptions of the characters and stuff for newcomers to the series and such, so I keep going to my copy of the Sonic Comic encyclopedia for references. That said, I believe that world building, when done right, can make a story so much greater. I'm going to do my best to have some good worldbuilding. Everyone use their canon powers but I'll also, you know, have the laws of physics and logic apply to how they behave. Most of what I'm using to make the worldbuilding happen will come from the Archie comics in terms of how the Chaos Emeralds work, locations and geography in the world and things like that, but I'll also use stuff from the games to create a blend of the two narratives. Anyways, lots of sweet action next part that I'm itching to write. I love to hear your thoughts so please review, and I'll see you next time! *waves goodbye*


	4. Prologue, pt4

Sonic the Hedgehog slowly opens his eyes, and his first thought is how much it hurts to exist. Everything seems bright and blurry, his head hurts like hell, his ears are ringing, and he wants that voice to—*

Sonic (voice slowly rising as he covers his eyes with his right arm): Please stop talking for the love of god!

???: Nice, he's awake!

it's the voice. A voice that every high school freshman knows the have and hates that they have. The one between child and man that could fluctuate in pitch at any time. Sonic hears this voice and groans, because he knows who it belongs to*

???2: Give him a minute, Silver. You slowed his fall near the very end, but he still smashed a car windshield with his face.

A/N: No, you didn't miss anything Sonic fans. No, I did not upload anything out of order. Just keep reading. Also, thanks for the reviews, reads, follows and all that, it's crazy to think that my content would be able to get any reads considering how utterly m a s s i v e this site is. Now, on with the show!*

slowly, Sonic's eyes focus to reveal a Hedgehog with spines of silvery gray standing over him. He wears golden bracelets with a glowing cyan line seemingly engraved into the circles, and his gloves have a similar cyan line forming a circle on the palms and the backs of his hands. The large amount of fluff on his chest can not hide the fact that he is undeniably skinny and doesn't look too strong. His face looks young, a couple years younger than Sonic at least, and Sonic just now realizes how well the eyeliner the Hedgehog is wearing brings out his golden irises. His shoes are high tops, with gold anklets like the ones on the boy's wrists at the tops of the navy blue footwear. A white stripe starting at the top of the shoes runs down the middle before it halts as it reaches the solid sea blue toe. But anklets and all, nothing can compare to this guy's hairstyle. Silver the hedgehog has two gigantic collections of spines on the back of his head that stop near his waist, while the rest of his hair on his forehead and the top of his head fans out line he taped one big, spiny fern to his head. Or a cannabis leaf, whichever image works for the beholder. It's a hairdo so goddamned ridiculous it can only have come from a world like The Hunger Games, Borderlands, or some other dystopian future world. And you would be right. Silver is from a ruined time 200 years ahead of Sonic and uses his f u t u r e k n o w l e d g e and ability to time travel via use of the Chaos Emeralds/Time Stones (seven gemstones that each have the power to travel in time and together have the power to rewrite history) to warn Sonic of potential world-ending catastrophes. By doing this he hopes to stop whatever cataclysm ended civilization in his time. However, after each cataclysm is stopped, his world is still ruined by a different cause and he must learn the history of his world all over again to find the next culprit.

Sonic (facepalming): Hi, Silver. Are you here for business or pleasure.

Silver: *sigh* You haven't changed a bit, Sonic. Are you okay?

???2: You went down pretty hard.

a cat with light purple fur stands next to Silver with her arms crossed. She wears a sort of long-sleeved tunic of a deeper shade of purple than the cat herself. The cuffs of the tunic's sleeves are made of fluffy white fur which gives an elegant aesthetic when paired with the white gloves that show the feminine delicacy of her hands. Under the Tunic she wears a white undergarment which looks to be made of very expensive yet durable fabric and serves a double role as an elegantly styled article of clothing and a relatively close-fitting pair of pants that one can readily move around in. Around the cuffs of this undergarment is more white fur that hides the tops of her shoes that are structured like pink high-heel versions of a Sonic's shoes with a white strap running across the middle of the shoe. Well, while it has a decent amount of heel and a design similar to most heels, it is not a true high-heel shoe. The exact name of this kind of shoe escapes SG3, however, because he is unfamiliar with women's fashion. Sue me. Regardless, this regal woman has a white muzzle with a neutral expression, calm golden eyes with a hidden fire that can be seen behind them, and a red jewel on her forehead. She has two tufts of purple fur on each side of her head and the rest of her fur is kept in a short and high ponytail by a red ring. Both her ponytail and zigzag-shaped tail look like burning and extinguished torches respectively. The ends of both have slightly darker fur, like it was charred during a previous burning, and the locks of her ponytail stand up like a flame. She also looks younger than Sonic by one or two birthdays, but she is wise beyond her years and radiates a calm intensity that Sonic and Silver both know they can count on for advice and combat alike. She herself hails from another dimension and currently accompanied Silver on his travels as a companion and mentor*

Sonic (to the cat): Blaze, I'm fine, I—

Sonic tries to push himself up to a seated position and is very confused when he feels metal under his hand. He looks down to see that he is laying on top of a sedan whose roof has caved in over the front seat and the windshield partially smashed*

Sonic (rubbing his forehead): ...Yeah, I guess. Head hurts, but I've had worse. Did... *he points down at the car under him* Did I do that?

Blaze (raising an eyebrow): You don't remember?

Silver: Did you black out in the fall or something? Oh, man... *he brings a hand to his forehead nervously* You can't fight with a concussion!

Sonic (tapping his finger on the hood of the car he's on): I don't have a concussion! I remember most of what happened...

Earlier...*

The rogues fly high above the city streets in a triangle formation. A smirking Jet leads the charge while Wave and Storm fill out the rest of the shape*

Jet: Guys, can you shut up our loot? I want to make a speech.

Storm has a screaming Sally in a bear hug. She struggles, but to no avail as Wave puts a strip of duct tape over her mouth*

Wave: Go ahead, you should be good for around... *she checks her watch on her left wrist while tearing another strip of tape from the roll, also on her left arm* 45 seconds of prime speech time.

Jet clears his throat and begins*

Jet: The Babylonian Rogues have had a great victory tonight. Because of our deductive skills, my amazing leadership, Storm's muscle and willingness to follow orders—

Wave coughs slightly as she tapes Sally's ankles*

Jet (glaring back at Wave): And because of Wave's technical skills, we will get a handsome fee for this girl's ransom!

Jet turns around on his board to sneer at Sally. She just glares back*

Jet: Yeah, that's right. We know who you are. Wave took some images from traffic cams and ran it through a facial recognition program! There are people who'd give an arm and a leg to have you all to themselves. The Babylonian Rogues will take their first big leap towards being the richest in the world and leaders of the Battle Bird Armada—ACK!!

an object zooms over Jet's head, causing him to almost fall off of his hoverboard. Sally follows the projectile's path to see Sonic land on a building on the other side of the road, pop out of his spin ball, and run along the rooftops to keep up with the crew*

Sonic: Dude, if you don't hand her over in the next ten seconds, I'm going to knock you out of the sky!

Sally has seen Sonic spin dash at high speeds and sees him start off every time he drops her off at her house, but this is the first time she has gotten a good third-person look at Sonic when he's booking it. She looks on in awe at how fast his feet move across the rooftops, his arms thrown backwards behind him with his palms facing towards the ground and his hands balled into fists. With one powerful stride after another, he keeps pace with these advanced vehicles on foot, not even breaking a sweat. Well, at least as far as Sally can tell through the semi-darkness and distance. One thing that's certain, this is the first time either Sally or the Rogues have seen Sonic look this angry. Jet turns to his partners, still visibly shaken by the near miss*

Jet: Guys... let's jet out of here. We have what we came for.

Sally feels herself becoming horizontal as Storm secures his cargo under his arm like a kidnapped football. The Rogues accelerate and bank to the left, away from Sonic's side of the street, over more buildings and towards the next street over. Once they are over the pavement again they follow the direction of traffic again*

Sonic banks to the right before getting some momentum as he moves back towards the edge of the building and leaping diagonally across the street. He goes into a spin ball to absorb the impact through a small bounce, continuing in a spin dash along the rooftops in the direction of the Rogues as they fly behind a building easily ten stories higher than the ones surrounding it. Sonic steers his spin further to the left and rolls along the parapet next to the street. See, this building that the Rogues flew behind is an office building with three flags flying on its front. Now, these flags are usually attached to flagpoles, and one of these particular flagpoles is empty. A bare pile sticking out at a 90 degree angle is just what Sonic needs. Sonic charges towards the corner of the building he is on in a whirling ball of rapid rotation. Right as his feet roll onto the very edge of the parapet, Sonic pushes off, breaking out of his spin and launching himself forward at the lone flagpole. Maybe the flag needed to be replaced. Maybe the company was getting a new flag. Doesn't matter, all Sonic needs is something to launch off of. He grabs the pole, turning into a blue wheel around it as he swings around it at an RPM achieved by most race car tires. After a few seconds, he lets go with his left hand, causing his body to rotate to the right as he swings so that he is facing towards the building. Sonic, with the momentum of his swing carrying him up, let's go with his other hand, places one foot in front of the other and blasts off up the building's glassy side. As he travels the last few stories, he banks to the right before making a tighter curve to the left so that he is just shy of a 45 degree angle with the pavement. As he nears the end of his road, he can see the birds he needs to aim for, and the rest of the gamble is simple. Once again, he reaches the edge of the building, and once again he pushes off as hard as he can, launching himself through the air at spectacular velocity. He keeps his limbs tight against his sides to be as aerodynamic as possible, getting nearer and nearer to the Rogues with every passing second*

Sonic: (They don't see me yet... good.)

Sonic bends back his right leg when he is about 50 feet away from Jet. Thirty feet, and Sonic tenses his body, ready for the move he has planned. Fifteen feet, and disaster strikes when Sonic hears Wave's voice*

Wave (unseen): Jet, DUCK!!

teen feet. Sonic sees Jet turn and his eyes widen in surprise, but it's too late to stop this gambit. Sonic feels the muscles in his leg move even as he sees Jet crouch down on his board and lean hard to the left. With all his might, Sonic has no choice but to bring his foot forward in a wide horizontal arc (for those oriented upright, since Sonic is still horizontal), and as Jet does a barrel roll on his board, his toe hits nothing but empty space. A muffled cry of what Sonic is pretty sure was his name from Sally's taped mouth registers in Sonic's mind as he now spins uncontrollably through the air from the momentum of his kick. The Rogues soar on down the street. As he plummets towards the streets, he realizes that he had no idea what would have happened after that trick, even if he had succeeded in kicking Jet in the jaw. On one of his rotations, he manages to make out that he's headed for the terrace rooftop of a restaurant. The scene had fairy lights strung over the tables, a nice balcony with a cement railing, and a sea of tables in a circle with four perpendicular aisles cutting the circle in to four sections. A small building which the waiters seem to be coming out of rests in the middle of the circle, presumably the kitchens or another part of the main restaurant*

Sonic (smirking): (I guess that's not so bad. I might have to dodge a rich person or two, maybe a few waiters, but I can make this work.)

Sonic does his best to move his limbs around and manipulate his fall so that he gets the angle he needs. One he has restricted his fall to a mere flat spin, his instincts take him in for his landing. As he comes in for an impact near the edge of the balcony, he uses his left leg to push off of the railing. The concrete shatters at the impact, but it does stop his spinning and set him heading more or less straight ahead. Next, using his last few hundredths of a second, he manages to do a roll to absorb most of the impact. After that, it's a smooth transition into a spin for a couple rotations to get rid of more of his kinetic energy. Using his rotary momentum to carry him upright and out of his spin, Sonic digs his feet into the ground, leans back, and begins skidding to a halt, leaning and ducking accordingly to dodge a few waiters and their trays. Soon he runs out of stopping room, approaching the building in the center of the circle. As he reaches it, Sonic brings his right foot forward to begin running up the side of the short structure. Once he runs out of vertical wall-road for the second time that night, Sonic pushes off of the building in an arcing backflip, soaring over the fairy lights. He falls through a hole in the web, crouching as he hits the ground to absorb any impact, and as Sonic slowly stands up and the adrenaline fades, he hears all the rich folk clapping for him. Sonic can't help but grin at the attention and take a bow. He is, after all, one part adventurer, one part showman*

Sonic (in a mock-flattered tone): Please, you're too kind. ...I'll pay for the balcony I swear, haha!

A yell reminds Sonic of what he was doing and he looks up, trying to locate the Rogues through the lovely fairy lights. He sees them alright, they surprisingly haven't moved far. They are still in front of that tall office building Sonic jumped off of, but they seemed to be going the opposite direction...?*

Sonic (squinting): Why are you going the wrong way...?

just then, something small and fast collides with Jet, knocking him off of his board and through one of the windows of the building. Sonic isn't sure what to do, but he readies his stance to take action just the same. The Rogues stop in their tracks, a struggling Sally still seen in Storm's arms. But not for long. Something yellow and bright hits Storm in the chest, and he sways on his board. Apparently his grip slackens too, because Wave's cry is heard as Sally slips from Storm's arms and begins to fall headfirst straight down. Again, Sonic's instincts take over. He crouches down and charges a powerful spin-dash incredibly quickly, releasing it and shooting towards the edge of the balcony once more. He comes out of the spin just in time to take two steps: one to get himself three feet off of the ground and directly over the railing, and the other to once again make a spectacular leap off of the railing. As more concrete shatters behind him, Sonic zooms across the street at his falling friend, getting closer and closer, his arms outstretched to catch her until... he passes right under her. Sonic can see her fearful eyes in the reflection of the windows of the building he is flying at, and all he can do is cross his arms over his face as he comes into contact with said window in front of him. Then he goes though the window. Broken glass is directly under him, uncomfortably close to his body. Going into a spin would mean curling those against his chest, which could prove fatal. So Sonic has no choice but to let his body, prone as it flies trough the air, collide with the carpet and roll over and over and bounce and tumble across the carpeting. His back smashes through three cubicle walls and two desk chairs before he comes to a stop against the wall of another modern jail cell—I mean cubicle. In a daze of pain and frustration, Sonic staggers to his feet and begins to run back towards the window he crashed through. He expected to run to the edge, look down, and see her body on top of a smashed car roof. What he does not expect is to reach the edge, peer down, and see no sign or wreckage other than a sea of glass shards on the sidewalk below. A humming sound, like that of a jet engine or a turbine, catches Sonic's attention, causing him to look up. What he sees is a blue robot modeled after a hedgehog hovering above him*

Sonic (squinting at this new foe): (This must be the new Metal Sonic... Eggman really went for a whole new design, huh?)

CONTEXT: Metal Sonic is a line of robots created by Eggman as an ultimate tool to use against Sonic. The AI is kept the same, with the body being replaced/repaired/upgraded after each defeat. Mimicking the blue blur's color pallet of blue and yellow with red shoes, and his build of a small torso and long, slim limbs, this robot is intended to match Sonic point for point. The modern model has a small turbine in its chest that powers a rocket in his back that can propel Metal Sonic to speeds rivaling the blue blur (who can reach 780 mph on his own, but can achieve greater speed with help from an enhancing item). Metal is built to be aerodynamic with a small head, less dramatic spines than a normal hedgehog or Sonic-modeled robot. His fingernails are as sharp as razor blades, he has incredible strength, and he has had a vow to kill Sonic personally ever since their first encounter when Sonic was... oh, let's say 10 years old. But this Metal Sonic hovering before our hero now is different. Indeed, while limbs are long and skinny as per the usual, there is more armor around around the joints. The feet also seem larger, bulkier. The spines are longer and sharp, 13-inch long cones that look like that they could impale a man. The face is, as always, stuck in a permanent scowl with no visible mouth on the metallic muzzle. A small gray nose nose pointy enough to pop a hot-air balloon, and a black screen with two red ellipses for eyes glare directly at Sonic. The robot's forearms have oval-shaped, gauntlet-like armoring around them, and only one hand. That is, the one hoisting Sally over his shoulder, her eyes full of fear and pleading to Sonic who answers the call to action. The left arm, with nothing visibly connected to the wrist joint, points directly at Sonic as he gathers his strength and leaps from the edge of the building at the new threat. Sonic draws his fist back for a punch, but stops short in midair as if caught in suspended animation. A light-blue tint has also come over his vision, as well as covered his entire body and a groan of annoyance rises in his chest. As Sonic voices his disdain for being halted in his quest to nail this S.O.B, two new glows catch his eye. It's difficult to see through the cyan glow engulfing his form, but Sonic can confirm that there is no turbine in this Metal Sonic's abdomen. Instead, an emerald-green, rhombus-cut gemstone glints from the lights of the city.

Another, more worrisome glowing is the yellow one building at the Metal Sonic's left wrist joint. As the one wielding the pen, I know that Sonic has 1.8 seconds left of consciousness left, and he uses one second of that to realize that this is definitely an upgraded model*

Sonic (eyes widening): (Oh, THAT'S why he's one-handed. Arm cannon. Why not? Why the he—)

Something bright and hot hits Sonic in the face, the same thing that hit Storm and made him drop Sally. The spell around Sonic breaks and as his mind told him that his face was tingling from the burn of the energy blast, he only knows that he is plummeting down, trying to count the number of stories in his last tenth of a second of consciousness before it all goes to black*

Now...*

Silver: I tried to grab you with my powers again when you fell, but I was freaking out so I couldn't get a proper hold. I guess I only slowed you down a little.

Oh, yeah: Silver has psychokinetic powers that needle him to hold psychical objects in stasis or move them around as he chooses*

Sonic (gesturing at Silver): It's cool, Silver. It was probably enough to save my life. But why grab me in the first place? I mean, I was about to lay the smack on that guy, but now we have a new Metal Sonic flying around with my crush as a hostage!

Blaze: If you noticed how his arm moved as you jumped and not after, you would know that he would have shot you anyway. Did you manage to get a better look at him when Silver stopped you midair?

Sonic (squinting as he tries to remember): Uh... yeah. He had a green gemstone on his chest. The material kinda looked like a Chaos emerald, but it was just a small little diamond-shaped thing.

Wave (unseen): Hm... I may have an idea of what it is—*Sonic looks to his left and sees Wave sitting on the sidewalk working on a laptop*—but I have to wait until our second opinion gets here before I can be sure. *Wave's hair starts to billow about behind her as a gust of wind sweeps the area. She holds her glasses to her nose as she looks up to the sky* Oh, speak of the devil!

the Whirlwind touches down in the parking space ahead of Sonic's metallic cushion and a frantic Tails leaps out and uses his tails to carry himself over to Sonic and touch down right in front of Silver. Tails turns towards Sonic, his face fraught with worry*

Tails (sounding a little choked up): Sonic, are you okay?! I got the call from Silver and Blaze and came as quick as I could. You fell a really long way, and—

Sonic (raising a hand to halt Tails' well-meaning cries): I'm fine, I'm fine, I just need a Ring.

Tails (typing in a combination on his satchel strap keypad): Mm... if you say so. *Tails reaches into the compartment that has just opened up* Just take it easy, ok?

Tails holds up a glistening golden ring. It's about three inches in diameter, and a perfect circle formed by a perfectly smooth and cylindrical rim of only a dozen millimeters thick. Sonic takes this small, thin golden ring in its brilliant sheen and clutches it tightly in his hand. He closes his eyes and dons a serious expression as the ring begins to glow spectacularly bright. It's yellow shine, emanating from the ring itself, begins to form an outline around Sonic's body as well. As it spreads up his arms, through his spines, and around his torso, a high-pitched hum begins faintly. After a few seconds, the glow around Sonic dissipates, the humming of energy stops, and Sonic opens his hand as the last remnants of the ring (a few twinkling sparkles like that of pixie dust) fade out of existence*

Sonic (cracking knuckles): Thanks for that. I'm gonna need the closest thing I can get to fresh legs right now if I'm gonna take down this new Metal Sonic.

Tails (eyes widening as he wheels around to face Silver and Blaze): Waitwaitwait, you never told me anything about a Metal Sonic.

Wave (piping up): Yeah, I wanted a second opinion on that matter. There are some interesting findings which have come up and—

Tails (turning to Wave): What are you doing here?

Wave (looking up from her laptop): If I tell you, will you explain Rings to me?

Tails (bewildered): Wh-what? Sure, yeah.

Wave (going back to her computer): Jet is out cold by getting hit by that thing. Storm is taking him to the hospital, which leaves me alone. So I want to help you guys take down this new bot in any way I can. *she looks up at them all* It's a common enemy for us all, so I see no reason why we can't pool skills to take it down. *she goes back to typing* So what's the deal with rings?

Tails: Well, they're connected to the Chaos Emeralds. I'm sure you know about Chaos Emeralds, right?

Wave (continuing to type): Seven ancient diamond-cut gemstones of mystical power capable of channeling the energy of the universe known as the Chaos Force. They have near-infinite amounts of this power and can grant special powers to certain individuals with a special connection to the Chaos Force—*she looks up and motions to each individual as she mentions them*—such as Sonic, Silver, and even you, Tails! The Chaos Force is only connected to THIS universe, however, as in this dimension. Other similar celestial forces and gemstones seem to exist on other worlds, though. Blaze's dimension has gems known as the Sol Emeralds that grant her special abilities as well. *Wave looks over her glasses as Tails* We all know about those stories. Now tell us about the rings.

Tails: sigh Rings are another product of the Chaos force. Although they mostly appear in pocket dimensions called Zones, Charles Hedgehog found a way to manufacture them as well. They can grant an increase in a person's abilities for a short time, power machinery, and heal injuries in individuals with a strong connection to the Chaos emeralds. Me, Tails, Shadow, Knuckles, and everybody mostly use them as a quick medical fix for when we're in a pinch. Now tell me about these new findings...

Sonic lets himself zone out as Wave starts to describe the gem Sonic saw on Metal. He lays back on the car roof, hands clasped behind his head and legs crossed. His standard "chill out until I hear an explosion" position*

???: ...S...on...ic...

The sound of his name registers in Sonic's head, but it's too faint and fleeting for him to take notice*

???: ...Sonic krsht Tails...

Ok, this was getting weird. Sonic sits up again and looks around. After a few seconds of searching, he sees Nicole's handheld body laying open in the middle of the street thirty feet behind him*

Sonic (squinting over at the machinery): Hmm... Did you finally fall out of Sally's pocket?

Sonic rolls off of the car roof and jogs over to pick up Nicole. Before he has made it two paces, his vision clouds and he is hit with a splitting headache. Sonic groans as he falls to his knees, clutching his head as he waits for the head rush to subside*

Silver (concerned): Hey, you alright—?

Sonic (waving a hand dismissively): Yeah, yeah, just stood up too fast.

after recovering, Sonic stands up and walks the rest of the distance over to Nicole. He picks her up and turns her over, inspecting the damage. Her screen is cracked and she is covered in scuff marks. Her speakers also appear to be damaged, but she is functional*

Nicole: I—vvt—can f-find S-s—ksh—Sally. G-get me t-t-t-to—vrEEp—T-t-tail-ails.

And so...*

Nicole is connected to Wave's laptop via an HDMI-microUSB2 adapter, and ,by using the monitor and sound system of the other device, presents her material. A green-tinted road map of the city has a blinking marker in the shape of an acorn on one street. Wave taps the "" key a few times to zoom in as she squints at the screen. The marker is in a business district-turned-gang turf*

Wave: I think that's where our base is... The Rogues' base, I mean.

Silver (scratching his head): An old derelict building in a forsaken district covered in graffiti?

Wave (searching through her computer's files): No, it's under the building. *she pulls up a pdf of a floor plan* We found an old bunker of sorts belonging to Eggman. According to the computers there, he has a whole system of these worldwide. Their main purpose is to deploy badnik hordes, but a lot of them also double as storage locations. There are rooms full of half-finished weapons, forgotten projects, and scrapped super badniks!

CONTEXT: Badniks are foot soldiers of sorts within the Eggman hierarchy. They are based on animals, fueled by live animals, and are usually deployed in platoons known as a "badnik horde". Each horde has a combination of ground, air, and environment-specialized badniks (burrowing, swimming, climbing, etc) and each hoard is led by a horde commander, which is usually a super-badnik (a more specialized robot with more advanced AI and far more deadly capabilities than any of its underlings)*

Sonic (furrowing his brown in anger): So I've had a badnik horde just a few miles from my school this whole time?

Wave (without missing a beat): It's totally safe. Eggman hasn't been seen in a while so he hasn't had the change to deploy anything. And anyways, all the bots were already trashed for spare parts when we moved in.

Sonic nods, then paces back and forth for a minute or so. He seems deep in though until he stops pacing and calls everyone to attention*

Sonic: Alright, I have a plan! *pointing at Wave* If you help me find your hideout, and wherever Sally is, and Tails can patch us through to the people we ditched at the pizza place, we can all meet up at the base and be properly prepared for a raid!

Sonic takes a knee and makes sure his shoes are secure*

Sonic: (It's time for a crusade. Kinda. It's time to fight a Metal Sonic at any rate.)

To Be Continued...

SG3 (throwing pen across the room): AND DONE!! sigh Ok this is gonna be one bigass PSA so prepare yourself. Sorry it took longer than usual, the action sequence took a bit. And then I had to do all the transitions which ended up being like "Hey, time to nonchalantly introduce two characters with crazy characters designs and complex backstories! While we're at it, let's do some worldbuilding for some of the most complex items of the series and set up the next chapter somehow!"

So, I'm going to start posting this on AO3 now. Link:

Speaking of publishing, I'm gonna be posting episodes as separate stories because we're already at like 20k words and we aren't even done with S1E1. Longer stories tend to turn away viewers so while I'll upload episodes to the complete season 1 doc once they are done I'll also be breaking it up into smaller stories.

TL;DR: Transitions suck, this is on AO3 now as well, and I'll be posting episodes as individual stories while also having a story for the complete season

AND THINGS HAVE YET TO GET AT THEIR CRAZIEST IN THE FIRST EPISODE!! Next part should be easier to write (that's what I thought for this part too though so we'll see). Review and favorite and all that jazz (seriously plz review if you don't mind, I love hearing what you think) See you around! *waves goodbye in tired*


	5. Prologue, pt5

Wave lifts up a large square of plywood and moves it aside before setting it down. Sonic looks down the hole the plywood was covering. It seems to be a metallic chute with the trapdoor originally covering it reduced to a ripped, twisted sheet of metal*

Wave: Normally these would be used to deploy aerial badniks, but once we torched our way in it made a pretty good way to get in and out of our base. Anyone without special abilities or an Extreme Gear board wouldn't be able to survive that, so we didn't need to guard it so much. Who knew we'd be facing a Metal Sonic though, huh?

Knuckles steps up to the edge of the chasm and spits into it*

Knuckles (placing his hands on his hips): This'll be a cinch. We've got four, five of the world's best ass-kickers versus ONE robot.

Shadow (walking up beside Knuckles and flicking him in the head): This "one robot" is an upgraded Metal Sonic with an arm cannon and unknown power source. I'm cautious about this, and I'm the ultimate life form. You would be wise to be wary as well.

Rouge: Would you guys cool it? You're ruining the calm before the storm.

Rouge leans against a pillar, separate from the group as they wait in what used to be a mall. Now the windows are shot out, the wall tiles and various other debris are shattered on the floor, and what cheap wallpaper survived is damp and peeling.

Rouge picked quite an outfit for a recon mission, but it's her trademark: a shoulder-less, backless spandex bodysuit. On her chest is a large pink heart and on her feet is a pair of white high-heel boots with a heart on the toe of each. A pair of white gloves with pink cuffs that reach her elbows complete the look with her wings and cleavage given ample breathing room*

Sonic (looking behind him at the bat): I've always wondered how you can fight in that...

Rouge: The grip from the spandex, gloves and boots helps me climb walls. The lack of a back helps my wings move better, allowing for more controlled flight. The boots have special toes that give more kick to my kicks, and they look damn stylish if I do say so myself. *she gestures to her chest* The big pink thing protecting these, as well as the skintight spandex hugging my legs and caboose, draw attention to my assets. When the enemy sees those, they get aroused, which means they aren't fully focusing on the fight, which means I have an edge over whatever thugs, mechs, or badniks they throw at me.

Tails: I have a newfound appreciation for that outfit.

Tails walks into the condemned building, Blaze and Silver in tow*

Rouge (winking at Tails): Glad we have someone who knows a good strategy when he seems it.

Tails: I've designed a lot of gear. You find an affinity for design gimmicks after a while, and I—

Wave (interrupting Tails): Yeah, if you all could kindly shut the f*ck up so we can kill this guy, that would be great.

everyone strolls over to the chute, forming a circle around Wave as she begins to brief them*

Wave: Now, let me tell you what I told Sonic on the way over here. *she begins to set up her laptop as her explanation begins* The green stone in Metal's stomach is what is known as a Power Gem. It's the rarest naturally occurring element and functions like a poor man's Chaos Emerald. *she sets her laptop on her lap and continues her explanation* The echidnas used them way back when there were more than, like, thirty left and they powered their biggest machines on Angel Island for years. As you know, Angel Island is the landmass off the west coast of Northmercia that floats in the air via the power of the Master Emerald. They mined it out of existence a couple centuries ago, but some United Federation scientists found one 40 years ago. It's currently on display in a museum in Station Square and has not been stolen by any hedgehog... *she glances at Shadow* robotic, synthetic or otherwise.

Sonic (looking around at the party): So the question is, how did Eggman get his hands on one of these?

Knuckles: It's entirely possible that one or two still exist on Angel Island, but we would have noticed if a badnik of any kind even got close.

Sonic: Most definitely. If there's one thing you excel at, it's not letting a damn thing get near your island, except for those, like, 5 times when something got into the island and messed with the Master Emerald so you—

Knuckles punches Sonic in the arm, shutting Sonic up as the latter chuckles to himself*

Wave (glaring at the two bickering boneheads): Regardless, this mech has a massive power output if he's using a Power Gem as a battery, and he'll probably milk it for all it's worth. Watch yourselves in there.

Silver (stepping forward): You aren't coming?

Wave (pointing towards laptop): I'm no fighter, never have been. I know the floor plan and can gain access to security cameras, blast doors, and maybe even the non-busted Badniks. I'm far more useful out here as a coordinator.

Shadow (glaring icily at Wave): I trust you won't lead us into any traps...

Wave: Or I could just pack up and leave—

Blaze (a hint of displeasure in her voice): Can we get on with this?

Soon, all are wearing the small earpieces that Sonic was equipped with before the chase (except for Blaze, she said it would mess with her focus), and they all go one-by one down the exposed chute. Shadow steps calmly off of the edge, adjusting his stance as he falls so that he can slide down the chute's slight slope similarly to snowboarding... on a metallic, near-veritcal course. Blaze is next, sliding down the shaft so that she is staring down the metal tunnel, one hand on the edge. She lets go, keeping her hand outstretched behind her for balance as she noiselessly slides down the tunnel. Rouge simply uses her wings to glide noiselessly down the narrow passage. Then Silver floats down using his psychokinesis, both slowing his fall to something much more gradual than Shadow and Blaze's 18 mph slides and providing a light source for those both ahead and behind him. Sonic and Tails follow, Sonic holding onto Tails' satchel for him with his left hand and his right held tightly by Tails as he spins his posterior propellers to gently lower them into the dark depths. Knuckles brings up the rear, fanning out his dreadlocks to slowly glide down the tunnel (for some reason, it works). They all descend in silence, the shaft slowly leveling out as they travel down. It's a 30 second trip for the people sliding rapidly, and about a minute and fifteen seconds of painful silence for the others, lit only by the glow of Silver's powers and that of small lights placed every few meters in the corners of the tunnel. Once the tunnel has reached a 45 degree angle, our heroes abandon their aerial descent and simply slide similarly to Shadow but at a slower pace (~10 mph). Sonic sees Silver disappear off to the side after going through what was obviously the exit at the other end of the secret entrance. With the slightly-better-lit area at the end of the tunnel revealed, Sonic brings his back foot forward to curl into a spin and roll the last few meters of the descent before falling out of the confined space, hitting ground and using his spin to roll out of the impact and into a standing position. Sonic looks ahead of him to see a long hallway boasting 15x15x15 meter dimensions. It's lined on each side with 10 large security doors, each with the Eggman logo on it: a circular graphic of a mustachioed man wearing goggles and glasses, smiling cunningly. A single, smaller security door the dimensions of a normal door is at when end of the hallway, staring them down like a silent stalker.

Sonic notices the others in cautious positions nearby. Shadow has flattened himself against the wall, handgun at the ready; Blaze has taken a knee, her palms emanating a faint orange glow as they face the floor. She glares ahead, waiting for a sign of movement, while Silver has taken a defensive stance with his hands raised and his palms facing ahead, ready to seize a foe with his powers. Knuckles has his fists up, and Rouge stands beside him, knees bent, wings spread and feet ready to kick butt. Sonic stands on the balls of his feet, ready to move as Tails floats out of the chute and lands, crouching beside Rouge with some unknown item hidden in his tight fist.

The atmosphere is so tense that a few of the intrepid party jump when Wave's voice comes out of their radios*

Wave (radio): Dammit, he's—ugh! *sigh* I can see on the cameras that you've made it ok, but getting in was the easy part. I can't control the security protocols from here, but I have access to the cameras and I know the floor plan, so hopefully I can navigate you guys well enough.

Sonic: Where should we start?

Wave (vehemently): Shhhh! Keep your voices down! We don't know where he's hiding and we want to play it stealthy for now, remember?

Shadow (whispering as he starts to creep forward, cautious step by cautious step): You have access to the cameras, but you can't see him?

Wave (Radio): He's damaged four security cameras, and he could easily just be staying out of the view of others. Hallway cam is fine, though. The computer room is the door at the end. Probably would be the best place to start. It's also one of the damaged cameras so... be careful, ok?

Sonic (whispering): You bet. Slow, deliberate movements are always my go-to approach!

Blaze: Sonic, take this seriously.

Tails: He is. (Sonic: I am!)

the group follows Shadow's lead and cautiously creeps down the hall in a pack*

Wave (radio): Just—the computer room doubles as the archive room, so if you want to extract any useful information from this place before you and Metal Sonic end up blowing everything to hell, get someone in there to download it.

Tails (opening Nicole, who is slung over his shoulder): Nicole, how much room is in your memory?

Nicole (via text on her screen):

•800 TB

•I also have an external hard drive at home

•and I can connect to the cloud as well

•will that be sufficient?

Tails (eyes widening, impressed): Yeah, that'll do nicely... *looking up at the massive door he needs to pass through* Shadow, can you come with me as a bodyguard? I can't fight too well as-is and it'll be even harder to fight off a Metal Sonic when I'm making sure a data transfer is going smoothly on top of everything that a fight entails.

Shadow (scowling): Why me?

Tails: I need someone who can attack with precision and power while also not breaking too many expensive and irreplaceable computer parts containing valuable data me and Nicole are trying to retrieve. You fit the bill.

as Shadow begins to rocket-skate onwards the end of the hall, the others protest why they aren't considered "non-messy fighters"*

Tails (rolling his eyes: Knuckles, you just punch everything. You are begging to break something. Silver needs something to throw at most of his foes, and the only things around to throw are the computers I need. Blaze would melt everything in seconds, Rouge needs to dodge attacks which could end up in components getting damaged and Sonic... no offense, but you're a blue pinball of destruction.

Sonic (smirking): It's cool, you're right after all. Check it out...

Sonic crouches down, charges a spin-dash, and releases it just as Shadow reaches the computer room door, stops, plants his feet, winds up, and delivers a palm-heel strike to the security door that makes a large indent in the center. Meanwhile, Sonic bounces in-between the various doors, hitting them in the teeth of the Eggman logo and creating a sizable dent on each door. He ends his zigzag of destruction by slamming into the same spot that Shadow struck on the computer room door, deepening the indent. The doors of these bunkers Eggman has are made up of an upper and lower piece that come together. The hedgehogs' assaults have bent the doors where they meet to create a foot-wide gap between the two indented pieces of metal. Sonic bounces off the computer room door and uncurls from his spin midair to land on his feet and slid to a halt over a 15m stretch as Tails takes flight. The fox flies over to the door, drops his bag through the gap, and begins to step through it himself to begin learning the forbidden secrets of the Egg Army. Or something*

Wave (Radio): Sonic, I'm gonna need you to stake out the hallway, meaning you'll stay here. And before you say anything, *Sonic scowls, crossing his arms and tapping his foot angrily* this is for the good of the mission. If Metal makes a move between rooms, if someone says they found him, or if someone finds Sally, you'll be able to get on it like Jet when the trimming for his board is just a little off and he yells at me because I'm the only one who—oh, and Silver and Knuckles should pair up and go check out Door 13, up there on the left. Blaze and Rouge, head to door 7, on the right.

Rouge: Again, how do you know he isn't in one of the rooms with a working camera? Like you said, he could just be hiding.

Meanwhile...*

Wave (flipping through the working cameras as a steady pace, her eyes alert and darting across her screen): I control the cameras, and that includes the spectrums they see. I literally just remembered I had this. They can see infrared, ultraviolet, the whole nine yards plus a new mode called "Software Search." If there's any kind of AI or robot in the room, it shows up. I can even know who it belongs too!

Shadow (radio): How does that work?

Wave: Well, finding an AI signature is easy, but I found that G.U.N bots have a certain "watermark" on their coding that differentiates them from others. Lots of things have this, like their code is styled a certain way or is consistently in a certain language. Same with Eggman mechs, the code is arranged to look like his face. Even things Tails makes have a style to them that I put into this program so it can identify who made the bot!

Meanwhile...

Shadow leans casually against a wall with his arms folded, eyes darting back and forth across the sea of servers. Close by, Tails hovers near the ceiling in a corner of the room, working at the broken security camera*

Tails (taking out his portable soldering iron from his bag): Think you could send the program to me? I could make it into an app that you could put on your camera, tablet, iPhone, whatever you need!

Shadow: Tails, stop nerd-flirting and help us get out of here faster.

Tails (grabbing two severed ends of a wire): Shadow, sharing a love of technology is not flirting, it's—

Shadow: I just want to get out of here and make my damn report, can you please just—

Tails (starting to solder the two ends together): I can make small talk and fix stuff at the same time, it takes the same amount of time and makes things a little less—

Wave (radio): Both of you shut up! I'll check in on the others, but stay on your guard once you've fixed that camera. The easiest time to sneak up on someone is when they're stuck monitoring a data transfer.

Sonic (radio): We better come out of this without a scratch for going this slow...

Meanwhile...

Rouge and Blaze step through the doorway as it whooshes open, treading lightly and glancing around for anything that may attack them in the dark. Blaze straightens herself and gently lifts her hand upward, sending a flame to burn above them and provide some light*

Rouge (eyes widening): Well, this is slightly troubling...

the tongue of fire that Blaze conjured casts an eerie glow upon the three super-badniks residing in the room. The first one that catches Rouge's eye is E-108 "Iota" hanging from the ceiling above them. It's build like a bird of prey, with a sort of rounded rectangular shape forming its body and two wings extended from its sides. The bottom of the body is a dark grey with a large white strip running down the middle. The top half is smaller in comparison with the bottom, and acts as small, yellow hood that shades the dark face of this robot except for the green light bulbs like beady little eyes. An omnidirectional cannon stylized to look like a sphere being clutched by golden bird talons is on the underside of each wing. Iota is built to be precise, fast, and maneuverable in the air, making it a difficult opponent to evade. While Rouge sizes up Iota, Blaze notices E-109 "Kappa", the one with a set of heavy-duty treads, upon which rests the signature robust metallic torso of the E-100 and E-1000 line. On top of the torso is the same yellow hood and green eyes and at its sides are two large front limbs sporting 4 closely arranged drill bits apiece in lieu of hands. The ball-and socket joints connecting its treads and deadly limbs to its torso denote its fighting style: flexible and menacing. The lighting does a great job of emphasizing emphasizing the latter quality of this 8-foot tall menace. They tiptoe around the super badniks, as if fearful they should awaken if too much noise it made*

Rouge (whispering): There's two E-100's in here, Wave! Was he planning something big or—

Wave (nervously on the radio): Where's the other one?

Rouge stops in her tracks*

Rouge: ...The other one?

Wave: Iota, Kappa, and Lamda. They were designed to work together and they are always deployed as a unit. There should be three, so where's the—

Blaze (deadpan): Found it.

If Iota was maneuverable and Kappa was destructive, E-110 "Lamda" was a blend of both. It seemed to be built like a scorpion, again starting with a rectangular body like Iota's and the yellow hood belonging to all E-100 models. Attached to the bottom of its body is a thick tail with a red cylinder at the end resembling the barrel of a ship's cannon. Protruding from its sides are two arms with exposed ball-and-socket joints that end in the same red cylinders as the tail, but with claw-machine-esque fingers that can grip any terrain. Complementing the trio, Lamda is clearly build to fire from its tail at any angle, currently resting on its clawed appendages with its tail poised to strike. While Blaze and Rouge count their chances against these monstrosities, Wave breathes a sigh of relief*

Wave (radio): If one of those things was running loose somewhere, I would have—whew... Don't scare me like that, ok?

Rouge: *sigh* We'll try.

Blaze: (turning to Rouge, pointing at a corner of the ceiling): Can you fly up there and fix the damn camera?

Rouge (taking to the air with a flap of her wings): You and Shadow need to loosen up, the two of you won't be able to break into anywhere if you stay so uptight all the time...

Tails (on radio): No matter what, Shadow's stealth missions will always look like Doomguy trying to play Metal Gear. Data transfer is 2/500 GB in by the way at a blitzing pace of 400 MB/s.

Rouge (dropping down to the floor and turning to Blaze): Hey, can you melt something for me?

Blaze: What?

Rouge: The wire's been cut, I need heat to fuse them together. *she taps her chin with a finger in thought* We'll need to get onto each other's shoulders, though, which will be a drag what with your shoes... *Rouge smiles confidently* We'll be fine, you look light!

while Blaze continues to stare in confusion at Rouge, Shadow and Tails continue to argue in the background*

Shadow (radio): All my stealth missions end with nobody having any knowledge that I had been there. That makes them a success.

Tails (radio): 'Cause you don't leave any witnesses.

Shadow (radio): as long as nobody has knowledge of my presence when I leave, that's a success.

Silver (radio): Is everybody in the military this cutthroat or is it just you?

in a separate room entirely, Knuckles and Silver tiptoe through a sea of decapitated and dismembered badniks. There are various metallic crates lining the walls, but the trick is not to trip over any of the wreckage in the dark. Buzz Bombers (badniks based off of wasps with a head, thorax containing wings and rockets for aerial movement, and an laser blaster in the rear segment) lay as headless corpses with the occasional lone thorax strewn about the wreckage. There are a few motobugs (a ladybug-based design with a mean face. It has a small semicircle body atop a single wheel capable of carrying this badnik at 200 mph) with their sides ripped open and rifled through. Then there's a pile of destroyed Buzz Bomber heads, incinerated segments of Caterkillers (caterpillar badniks made of a chain of spheres fitted with spikes), Kikis (small monkeys that throw bombs and can climb most surfaces), and Crabmeats (bases off of scuffling crabs that shoot lasers from guns within their claws) near one section of wall. The wall has several dents in it, as if it was hit in a single spot over and over again*

Shadow (radio): In the interest of everybody shutting the hell up, I'm not talking to you anymore

Knuckles: Fine by me, you're not exactly helping me step through the badnik guts.

Silver (glancing at Knuckles as his eyes dart around in the darkness): I-I'm not so sure about this.

Knuckles responds calmly, but he's just as on edge as Silver

Knuckles: It could be a bunch of dismembered organics lying around the room. Calm down, kid.

Silver's hands glow with power as he turns to yell at Knuckles, distressed*

Silver: WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT?!

Knuckles: Oh, hey! That gave us some light, so let me think of something else to horrify you with—

Silver (holding his hand above him like a lantern): —Or I can just do this.

...

Knuckles (grumpily): Well, fine, if you want the easy way...

Using Silver as a light, they step around the robot parts to head towards the crates by the wall left of the door*

Meanwhile...

Tails leans against a server while Shadow leans against the wall, twirling his handgun around one finger. Nicole is hooked up to a component and displays a progress par on her screen*

Tails (to Wave over radio): Security cam's up and good?

Wave (radio): Yep, I see you.

Tails (glancing at Nicole): Fantastic. Data transfer has started, going smoothly... System security is fairly lax. Should I be worried?

Wave (radio): Hard to say. It's Eggman, it could be anything. Just keep an eye out for... what the—SH*T!!!

Tails (standing up suddenly): What happened?!

Wave (radio): Goddammit—Sonic and Metal just shot out of the entrance, I don't know where they're going, I—

Nicole: Tails, something's happening. There's a program that just started up, it's turning on several startup sequences and—

Rouge (radio): Wave, the robots just turned on. The ceiling just opened up, is that how they launch or—?

Knuckles (radio): Wave, we found Sally tied up and gagged behind a couple crates—what the hell?!

Silver (radio): Guys, a whole swarm of badniks just busted out of some big crates! We can't fight them all in here, I'm getting out in the open—

Tails tenses up. He listens to the radio, trying to make sense of what's happening to his friends*

Wave (radio): Okokok, shut up and let me think for a minute, uh... Tails, go after Sonic. Your computer can handle the transfer and—MOTHER OF GOD!

Rouge (radio): The super-badniks just launched!

Silver (radio): The swarm of Buzz Bombers just left up the chute, but there's still a lot of guys down here. Me and Knuckles are doing ok but—oof! We could use some help.

Wave (radio): Yeah, I know, they just went past me and—

Shadow (angrily): TAILS!!

Tails jumps and whirls around to see Shadow scowling at him*

Shadow: Snap out of it, we need to move. *Shadow touches his ear to activate his radio* I'm getting Tails and myself topside so we can help out Sonic. I trust you guys can handle things down here?

an orange glow comes through the crack in the computer room door. Blaze has entered the fray it seems*

Knuckles (radio): We'll be fine—RHAGH! Go ahead!

as Tails tries to come up with a plan of action, Shadow suddenly grabs his arm*

Shadow: Chaos... *in a flash of green, Tails and Shadow are transported aboveground* CONTROL!

Tails looks around to orient himself. Except for the new hole in the ceiling and a small pile of debris by where Wave sits on her laptop, it's the same deserted mall. While Wave works furiously on her laptop to try and figure out what the hell is going on, Tails uses his propeller tails to speed up his sprint towards the Whirlwind outside*

Tails (shouting backwards over his shoulder): Shadow, can you head back down and get my gear? I need to make a call.

Meanwhile...

Sonic stands tapping his foot at one end of a clearing in the woods*

Sonic: Thanks for agreeing to meet outside of the city. Didn't peg you to care about collateral damage.

at the other end of the clearing, the new Metal Sonic, with his new arm and red, hateful eyes, states menacingly at Sonic*

Metal Sonic: I only want a fair fight with you. I have no quarrel with the others. But once I kill you... *Metal Sonic raises his non-blaster arm, pointing a finger directly at Sonic* they will soon join you at your side.

Sonic scowls for a minute, then smirks*

Sonic: WOW, man. You couldn't think of any better lines for this "once and for all" schtick you've got going on here? I've heard better banter from a Sherlock x Reader fanfic on wattpad written by an eleven year old!

Metal Sonic: Only you could have changed so little and yet gotten so much worse.

Sonic (rubbing his nose): Yeah... last time we fought was like a month and a half ago so I don't know how much I can have changed since then.

Metal Sonic (clenching a fist): I—

Sonic (raiding a hand to stop Metal): Ok, so you obviously have a whole vendetta going on, but more so than usual. Want to tell me what's going on?

Have some kind of monologue prepared, or

Metal Sonic (stepping forward, suddenly yelling): STOP STALLING!! *a shuddering breath can be heard from the robot* I just want to get this over with. I've waited for a long time and now... it's time to finally beat you and prove—

Sonic (waving a hand dismissively): —That you're the best, blah blah blah, I KNOW! So... *Sonic slides his feet into a fighting stance* are we going to dance or what?

To Be Continued...

I LIVE, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!! Sorry this took so long, writer's block and all that Jazz, specifically for this part. Next part should flow from my mind like honey after nuking it in the microwave. Thanks so much for your patience, and I'll see you around!


	6. Prologue,pt6

Tails sits in the Whirlwind's pilot seat, flipping switches to prepare for takeoff. He jumps when Wave stumbles into the side of his craft*

Wave (frantic): You need to take me with you. If any of those Buzz Bombers circle back, I'm cooked!

Tails: Well, we need to find Sonic and Metal before those Bombers find them!

Wave: Shouldn't we look for the Bombers and take them out first? Sonic and the rest can handle themselves, the least we can do is take out a few wasps.

Tails (continuing to prep the Whirlwind): With what? This thing has no weapons!

Wave (grinning pridefully): Two mechanics with experience and knowledge 17.32 years ahead of their age should be able to do something.

Tails pauses in his work before turning to Wave*

Tails: ...Why do you care?

Wave: Why do I care about what? The town, Sonic, any of you? Well, I love in the town, Sonic's my best bet of surviving the mess of robots out tonight, and you're the only person within a thousand leagues who loves building and making and fixing as much as I do. And you're landlocked here now, so... *Wave avoids Tails' eyes* I don't want you homeless, is all... *she suddenly glares at Tails* But no hetero, you get me?

Tails smiles warmly at Wave before flipping a couple more switches to finish flight prep*

Tails: Thanks, Wave. I'm glad we ended up friends... *Tails suddenly grabs Wave's forearm* OHMYGOD!

Wave slaps Tails as hard as she can in the face, making him let go of her arm*

Tails (rubbing his cheek): Owww...

Wave: —JEEZ, I'm so sorry that was on instinct, are you ok—?!

Tails (putting a hand to his cheek and staring incredulously at Wave): Do you need to work through some things? Y'know what, nevermind, sorry I startled you but I have an idea.

Wave (raiding an eyebrow): I'm intrigued, what did you have in mind?

Tails (smirking): Oh, you'll hate it. Get in, if you wouldn't mind. I kinda need you for this.

Meanwhile...

Sonic is in a starting stance, staring down the new Metal Sonic from across the clearing. Metal's engines are lit and preparing to blast off*

Sonic: So, some things aren't lining up, would you mind indulging me now before we're lost in the heat of battle or—

Metal Sonic: Three...

Sonic: You're acting like an old man, but I think you're a fresh new robot. Granted you've never talked before so this is all new. Still, this frankly is too resourceful for Eggman, the whole "distracting my other friends with a bunch of killer robots" schtick, so—

Metal Sonic (growling as his engines hum louder): Two...

Sonic (shouting over Metal's engines): Are you flying solo on this? Metal Sonic's not new to master plans! And if so, why has Eggman not told us about you going rogue since you would be a mutual threat to both of us?

Metal Sonic (engine whining even louder): One—

Sonic (yelling in order to reach Metal): —It's like he thinks you're dead! But if you were a replaced Metal that Eggman decided to upgrade, he'd watch you like a hawk! *Sonic smirks* I might have it figured out now, but I'd like to hear the full story from you!

Metal Sonic (charging up a shot from his blaster and aiming at his opponent): ARE WE GOING TO FIGHT OR SIT AROUND HERE TALKING?!

Sonic crouches down and starts charging a spin-dash*

Sonic: We'll fight, don't get your cannon in a crunch! But look, man. You've got a lot of baggage obviously, and that doesn't fit with your usual schtick. *Metal's cannon arm falters. Sonic's spin continues to charge* There's something up about you. If you want a truly fair battle with me, I'd like to know what this means to you. I'd take it as seriously as you do. So what do you say...

Sonic releases his overcharged spin and starts skidding immediately. Metal notices the delayed start and fires a shot of yellow energy at Sonic. Luckily, Sonic finds traction in time and darts to the left just before the shot hits him before course correcting and accelerating. Now, Sonic is shooting towards Metal Sonic, Metal fires another shot which barely misses its target as Sonic blows by Metal, slams through a pine tree, another, another, finally embedding in a tall pine stripped of most of its branches.

The tree sways and tips. Sonic continues spinning, wearing away enough wood for him to roll up the underside of the falling tree he just slammed into and uncurl from his spin just as he launches off of the top of the angled trunk. Sonic soars over the confused Metal Sonic's head like a blue torpedo, twisting in the air to reorient himself (and dodge another shot from Metal) as he descends, landing facing Metal and skidding backward in the mud in his runner's start stance. He looks up at Metal, smirks, and finally finishes his proposition*

Sonic: Why don't you tell me a story?

Metal has had enough. He yells his mechanized cry and blasts toward Sonic at full thrust. Sonic takes off at Metal, approaching 85mph as they get closer by the millisecond in their head-on charge*

Meanwhile...

The Whirlwind cruises over the streets. Wave sits in the back, wholly focused on her laptop. Tails looks serious, as if steeling himself against something to come*

Wave (not looking away from her work): I'm not sure if I want this to work or not.

Tails (chuckling in spite of himself): Me neither, but Sonic taught me that the most ludicrous risks can sometimes be just what you need to win.

Wave (deadpan): How moving and powerful. Shut up and fly, two-tail.

Tails: We'll have plenty of time for that once the plan works.

Wave repeats what Tails said in a mocking voice. Tails just rolls his eyes and watches the silent skies for their goal*

Meanwhile...

Metal Sonic: You know, you're right. You deserve the full story.

Sonic (weaving in and up of trees as he torpedos through the forest): Glad you came around. Where does it start?

Sonic avoids a dive-bomb by Metal by transitioning to a rolling spinball before spin-hopping over a descending tree knocked over by a projectile from the robot's cannon. Before he can fall to the forest floor, however, Sonic is hit in the side with another one of Metal Sonic's shots, knocking him into a tree. Sonic's back bounces off the wood, knocked out of his spin. After tumbling a few times, Sonic finds his footing again and continues to barrel on as Metal Sonic starts his story*

Metal Sonic: After you won that race in the Stardust Speedway Zone, Eggman went back to the Death Egg to rebuild me from scratch. That started the Metal line you know and fight now. Rebuilds of the same robot.

Sonic's eyes comb the dark woods as he listens to Metal*

Metal Sonic: That line started after the "Mecha Sonic" model you and Knuckles fought on Angel Island that one time.

Sonic finds Metal in the trees and smirks. Sonic takes a few more paces before jumping to the right in a spinball and bouncing off of one tree, then another to the left and another to the right before his trajectory is aimed perfectly at Metal. Sonic speeds up his rotation to deal maximum damage on impact... and shreds through a tree he didn't even see coming. As Sonic lands and uncurls his spin on his small bounce once he hits the ground, he can feel Metal Sonic's nonexistent smirk on him*

Metal Sonic (arrogantly): Is this what I trained so long to fight?

Sonic (slightly aggravated): Chronological order please... Am I meant to understand that you, in fact, are the OG model from Stardust Speedway Zone?

Metal (turning around completely, flying backwards so as to face Sonic): Yes. I was refurbished to become Mecha Sonic, but discarded once I failed again. The new line continued to grow from my legacy. A legacy never really remembered and more easily forgotten with each new model. But I was never completely destroyed. I was left on low power mode with half a body on Angel Island

Metal fires a shot behind him (ahead of Sonic), causing another tree to start tipping. He turns around to jet straight at the tree and pulls a strange maneuver. He cuts his engines after making an emphatic burst so that he is set to do a sort of off-kilter barrel roll in the air. Now perpendicular to Sonic and to the ground, he uses his normal hand to punch through the tree and send splinters flying at Sonic. Sonic easily sidesteps to the left and tries to hop into the air and leap off a nearby tree at Metal. Sonic finds himself headed directly for Metal and vice versa. Sonic has no time to react to Metal's charge, slowing his spin down enough for Metal to rush at the hedgehog, grab his left arm and start to fly straight up. Sonic is jerked with him as they escape the confines of the trees and into the open night air. It's refreshing, but all the same the change in direction dislocated his shoulder*

Sonic: So you were presumed dead by Eggman, then what?

Metal Sonic (looking down at Sonic as he begins to level out): What would you do? I crawled my way back through the zone and attached badnik parts to my body until I functioned enough to fly home on the next appearance of Little Planet.

Sonic (rolling his eyes): Right, of course. How silly of me.

Meanwhile...

Wave (telling angrily): How did you see this going exactly?!

Tails pilots the Whirlwind above the skyscrapers of downtown. Jerking the controls every which way to avoid the hailstorm of yellow Buzz Bomber shots fired at his vessel. Wave sits in the back, doing their best to stay down and tighten their seatbelt. The two of them are used to dangerous flying maneuvers, but then there's pure madness. The Whirlwind pitches, drops, tilts, rotates, stops, starts, spirals, and does any type of movement one can think of to compensate that the vessel tops out at 100mph*

Tails: Kinda like this to be perfectly honest with you. I told you you would hate it!

Wave: Well, yeah, but... Tails, I have to respectfully ask, WHAT THE HELL?! I can't build anything like this. Can't you dodge more smoothly?

Tails (rotating the craft 27 to the right and tilting it backward): This was meant for cruises in populated areas! Our only hope is that it was fitted for omnidirectional movement, so we're going to milk that for all it's worth and hope we survive.

Wave: Well what comes next in this plan of yours?

Tails (jerking his thumb over his shoulder): In front of you is a compartment filled with various spare parts that are intended to be MacGyver'd together in various ways like—you remember those "Creator" Lego sets?

Wave (increasingly irritated): No!

Tails (forcing the craft to fly forwards while tilted 41 to the left): Just build an EMP grenade and, if possible, a launcher of sorts for it, despite my "fancy flying."

Wave (reaching to the compartment in the metal partition separating the front and back seats of the Whirlwind): Oh, is that all...?

Meanwhile...

Metal flies over a highway, still gripping Sonic's arm. Sonic glances ahead and notices that they're heading back to the city*

Sonic: (Not exactly ideal. Collateral damage will be a problem... going to have to finish this fast.) *he looks up at Metal Sonic* So, you made it back to the mainland from Sky Sanctuary Zone, then what? Just... sat and chilled until tonight?

Metal Sonic: No. I improved myself. I survived through the network of supply bunkers Eggman set up. With some designs and melted badniks, I built a new body and modded it extensively using parts and scrap. I forged new armor, molded my own chassis, tested everything myself and worked in the shadows until I was ready.

Sonic: Dude, you're taking the phrase "self-made person" to a whole other level.

Metal Sonic: I simply did what I could to improve myself. I even wrote myself a new UI. I'm no "perfect weapon" by any means, but... *Metal looks down scathingly at Sonic* I'd say I'm good enough to finally kill you.

Sonic (serious): ...Hm. I see.

Metal stares ahead, and Sonic picks up a sort of pensive feeling in the robot's unchanged expression*

Metal Sonic: But I didn't do everything myself... I'm not sure if I have some sort of amnesia, but... I... sometimes parts I needed would appear on a workbench, even after I'd ransacked the place looking for them. Sometimes a machine would be broken one moment and fixed the next.

Sonic: Dang, elves have really stepped up from their shoemaking days!

Metal Sonic: God, you've just gotten worse as you've aged, haven't you?

Sonic (shrugging): Eh, my one-liner game is a bit off. It's been a crazy night and school's been pretty pun-ishing lately, haha!

in response, Metal Sonic does a barrel roll, letting go of Sonic's hand to fling him away from the highway and towards a building. The launch was so sudden that Sonic has no way to prepare as his back slams against a floor-to ceiling window for the second time that night. He lands hard on his dislocated shoulder and brings up his arms, protecting his face from impact as he tumbles down a carpeted hallway. Once, twice, three times he bounces before his shins slam into a metal table leg with a klang, causing his head to whip forward and collide with a water cooler with a WHAM! Sonic knew it was a water cooler because no sooner had it hit him in the face than the jug fell and smashed open on the side of his head. Sonic lies there for a minute, dazed, before he hears Metal's jets at the end of the hallway, followed by his heavy footsteps*

Metal Sonic (a hint of anger in his voice): I didn't resurrect myself and prepare an elaborate trap just to listen to childish jokes.

Sonic (scowling): (Well, now I'm just pissed. Ok then, if that's how you wanna play, I'm gonna...)

the footsteps can't be six feet away now*

Metal Sonic (in a furious growl, closer): You came here to give your final fight before you fell in the face of my superiority. I think it's time you did so...!

Sonic takes a deep breath, then furrows his brow in concentration*

Sonic: (As much as I'd like to put him away quickly and messily, that cryptic musing of his from the flight into town has me worried. I just need to knock him out so we can ask him questions... Put him in sleep mode? Hard reboot? Uh... revert to DOS mode?)

Sonic feels the steps through the floor, ominously approaching*

Sonic: (Whatever, I don't have time to worry about semantics, I just need to take care of that stupid arm that's actually really cool but also making this really hard for me right now.)

Sonic hears the footsteps stop by his ear. He feels Metal pick him up by his spines and lift him up from the shards of glass, red shoes dangling below*

Metal Sonic (charging a blast from his arm cannon): Any last words? Any regrets?

Sonic (grinning): Yeah, a couple. I left it at home, so I'll read them at your funeral. *he feels the fingers gripping his hair tighten* M-maybe I'll leave the threats to you, huh?

Metal Sonic fires his shot, but not before Sonic is able to his cannon arm up, causing Metal to shoot himself in the face with a full strength cannon blast. Thank the lord for the new armor and chassis. The blast one singed the paint off of the front of his face, severely cracked the screen of his optic sensors, and damaged his face armor and voice box slightly. Still, the most important components are unharmed, and he can still see... barely. He can see Sonic slap away Metal's grip on his hair, freeing him. He can still feel Sonic pummeling the joint armor of his cannon arm with a rush of punches. And he can still wind up a powerful knockout punch with his other arm and aim it right for Sonic's head.

The motors in Metal's arm pull the limb back, tighten the fingers into a strong fist, and send it at Sonic, carrying hundreds of joules with it. Sonic simply jumps backwards out of the way and begins speedily backpedaling down the hall the way he came in*

Metal Sonic (aiming his cannon at his retreating foe): (Damnit, I was about to win and—that punch was too telegraphed, I'm getting lazy—that bastard thinks he can make me look like an idiot and get away with it—selfish child acting like this is some frivolous scuffle—he has no idea what I've done to get here—what is he doing, is he—oh goddammit!!) ARE YOU RUNNING AWAY?!

Metal watches as Sonic leaps through the window and across the street, disappearing in the concrete jungle as he speeds the hell away from the fight. Metal Sonic begins to power up his engine for pursuit before pausing to think*

Metal Sonic: (He'll still be in town regardless, his friends' presence has landlocked him here. If they're still dealing with the trap I set, they'll be out and about, meaning he'll rush to help them, and from there finding him should be easy. Might as well take a moment to regroup, make sure he didn't do too much damage to me...)

Meanwhile...*

Sonic lands on the ledge of an old gothic-style church, finally allowing himself to take a knee, concealed behind a gargoyle. He puts a hand to his forehead and winces before rubbing his shins and shoulder gingerly. His shoulders and back ache, he can hardly see straight, and he feels a little nauseous as he sits there, panting and exhausted*

Sonic: (I booked it a couple dozen blocks away, that should buy me some time to breathe. Ugh... that concussion is gonna mess me up big time... Legs are starting to tighten up... This is taking more out of me than I thought. I seriously need to finish this quickly now, or at least cripple him enough that we can interrogate him about whoever helped rebuild him. I don't think I can take any more hits like that. Guess that's what I get for being cocky...)

Meanwhile...*

Metal begins to examine his right elbow, seeing that Sonic did a decent number on the armor. Still, the motors and shock absorption for the cannon weren't damaged by his rush attack, so his arm still functions good as new. Metal looks around the hall, identifying doors to offices bearing name plaques he can't see enough to read. He looks down and sees a water cooler with two different colored spouts he can't tell apart*

Shard (growling to himself): (I can see for the most part, mostly thanks to the new software's ability to read the environment and render it accordingly. But if I can't even read a sign on a door, I won't be able to tell apart blue limbs from blue body in a fight. Since dodging a single one of Sonic's hits is out of the question, that means I'm stuck with ranged fighting. Thank goodness my cannon is fine, but I can't take another hit to this joint or I'll be out of an arm. I got cocky. I can't let that happen again.)

Metal looks at his surroundings, down at himself, then at a meter on his HUD displaying his fuel and power levels*

Metal (putting a hand to his "ear"): Fuel is fine... Power is at 58%. I should watch how much I use my cannon, it's tanking my battery. Wonder if I can tap into their radio frequencies to see how well my trap worked—

Sally (radio): —anybody read me? Anybody at all?

Sonic (radio): Yeah, I read—Sally is that you?! Are you ok, are—?

Sally (radio): I'm fine, I borrowed Shadow's radio thing. Where are you? Are you alright?

Sonic (radio): I dunno, still in once piece. Taking a breather on the roof of some big church... there's gargoyles, I dunno. I see a Dairy Queen a few blocks down...?

Metal Sonic (positively grinning evilly): (More than enough info. Thanks for your location, heh heh...!)

Wave (radio): Hi, I'm on the cusp of death, thanks for asking. I'm with Tails, but he needs to focus on what he's doing. I, unlike him, can effectively multitask amidst utter chaos and idiots.

Sonic (radio): Yeah, nice, nice...

Sally (radio): What's that buzzing on your end?

Wave (radio): The 50-plus Buzz Bombers trying to kill us! I'm fixing up an EMP, but some help would be appreciated. We're heading west towards, uh... 16th and Morgan is what is says on Tails' GPS. He says we'll activate it once we're there, and I guess I trust Tails' reasoning.

Sonic (radio): Headed your way as soon as I figure out what street I'm on. Do you know where Shadow and Knuckles and everybody are?

Silver (radio): The three super-badniks just... left. Iota flew off somewhere, Rouge is tailing it now. Kappa dug himself a path underground and Lambda followed him. Shadow and Knuckles are following them to see if and where they resurface.

Sonic crouches does his best to stay out of view behind the wings of a gargoyle, eyes scanning the sky and listening for engines*

Blaze (radio): In all likelihood, they've probably just been assigned to go to a safe location in an emergency state like the one triggered tonight. They just ignored us until we attacked. Even then, Lambda just shot enough bombs to keep us on our toes until they could escape.

Sally (radio): Makes sense. If this was planned, that makes sense how they'd know where to dig without causing a cave-in or earthquake.

Silver (radio): Have you beaten Metal Sonic yet?

Sonic: *sigh...* No... it's a work in progress. We're both kinda banged up by now.

Wave: Metal's still alive, huh? Do we have a plan to take care of Metal Sonic other than "find each other once we win"?

Sonic (smirking): Yeah, I've got one. I'll tell you once I find ya, ha! Over and out.

Sonic lowers his hand from the radio in his ear, furrowing his brow*

Sonic: (Now to wait for—)

Sonic hears jet engines, feels a thud in his feet and sees the gargoyle he was resting behind tip forward and off of the edge of the building. Metal Sonic swoops upward to hover in front of Sonic, head dented from head-butting the concrete side of the building*

Metal ("smirking" maliciously): Thanks for telling me where you are you—

Sonic happens to glance down and see a female mobian passing below where the stone beast is currently plummeting. He has climbed over the concrete edge of the church, transitioning into a brisk spin-roll down the side of the building*

Metal Sonic (cannon arm glowing with energy): Dammit, you A.D.D pincushion!

Sonic catches up to the gargoyle with every tumble, the red fox with short, mousy hair below completely oblivious to her peril. The Gargoyle is slowly revolving as it falls, and it's back is currently to Sonic. Sonic veers his spinball to the right to bounce off of the border of one of the church's arched doorways and ricochet off of the curved back of the gargoyle.

Using the ricochet, Sonic hits the ground in the spin, taking advantage of his skidding to do a 180 so that he is facing the woman, and as soon as he gains traction, he springs into action. After one revolution of his spin ball, Sonic uncurls out of it so that he can scoop up the woman and move her a couple meters out of the way of harm before lowering her safely back to pavement. Sonic looks back to see the gargoyle smash into pieces on the pavement*

Sonic (to the woman): You might want to head home, things are wack out tonight. I swear it's raining robots with vendettas.

Hearing Metal's engine, Sonic looks up just in time to see his foe swoop down and aim a shot at Sonic. Sonic takes a couple strides to build momentum before spin-jumping out of the way right as the shot fires, ricocheting off of the building, and uncurling from his spin in time to place his hands atop Metal Sonic's head, hoist himself up to a squatting position, and leap off of it, soaring onto a building across the street from the church. Sonic looks down at a street sign to orient himself*

Sonic: (12th and Mammoth. Okay... not terribly far away by super-speed standards...)

Sonic turns and begins to once again run across the rooftops, hopping over alleyways and leaping over streets as he tries to contact Tails on his radio*

Sonic: Look, I'm headed your way Tails, Metal's on my tail. I'm gonna lure him into the range of your EMP, then let it take him out along with the Buzz Bombers.

Wave (radio): He's nodding. Sorry he can't talk, too busy trying to make sure I see my lunch again before I die.

one of Metal's shots blasts apart a chimney next to Sonic, who decides it's time to speed up*

Sonic (nervously): Uh, how close are you to wherever you're gonna blow the EMP?

Wave (radio): Can barely see it, but we're less than a minute away. Make like yourself and haul ass.

Sonic (grinning): You got it! *after hanging up, he looks back at the angry robot charging after him* Yeah... let's do it to it.

Sonic looks ahead of him and pours on all he has left. He trusts Metal is following him from the various adornments of the rooftops exploding around him. Traversing city blocks in seconds, Sonic tears over the rooftops, maintaining a serpentine motion as best he can, threading the needle in between vents and bird coops and roof access doors. Despite Metal's impaired sight, he's getting in some shots that are a little too close for comfort.

Sonic sees a building in his path too high to jump over, and there isn't enough space to change direction. He has no choice but to jump off of a parapet, another cannon blast just missing him, and go into a spin as he crashes through his third window of the night. He continues to spin-dash through yet another office building, past the cubicles and coffee machines and, after another window is dispatched, shoot right out of the other side of the building. He can see the swarm of robots that marks Tails' location in the distance. There's a parking lot below Sonic. If he can clear that and make it to that shorter building over there, it's a straight shot to Tails. Just then, he feels yellow energy graze his spines as it flies past him*

Sonic: Ah, jeez—! (I'm a sitting duck in the air, gonna have to stay on my feet if I want to make it in time.)

Sonic uses his air-dash technique to hurtle himself straight towards the pavement, recurling into a spin in time to absorb the impact before he starts running again. Sonic makes a beeline for his destination, sidestepping right to avoid a cannon shot, then left to dodge another. One misses COMPLETELY and blows up a car to Sonic's left*

Sonic (rolling eyes as he swings on a light pole to launch himself across the street and onto a building): (Aaand this is why I wanted to stay off of the streets...)

Sonic puts all the energy he has into magnificent strides, each carrying him over several rooftops. He can still hear Metal's engines behind him. They're so close... he's only a few blocks away from Tails*

Sonic (ejecting himself off of the parapet as hard as he can): (Just gotta make one last big jump, make sure I don't fudge the landing and—)

Metal Sonic's energy shot hits him square in the back, smacking him out of the air where he bounces a couple times before slamming his back against the brick of the parapet.*

Metal Sonic (landing several meters away from where Sonic lies): I've got you. I've GOT you! Ha... haha... hahaHA—

Metal Sonic starts laughing. Loud, insane laughter, like he had seen somebody do something really stupid... or maybe he was just an adrenaline-drunk robot. The loud metallic crunch in the background only intensified his giggles. Sonic manages to fight through the pain and pull himself up so that he leans backwards against the parapet, panting as he looks at Metal Sonic doubled over with laughter. Sonic looks behind him to see Tails untangling himself from a disabled whirlwind and several dozen fried Buzz Bombers on top of a building across the street*

Sonic (looking back to Metal): (They're alright, that's good, uh... need to stall, need to stall, uh... um...)

Metal Sonic (slowly approaching Sonic): I had you on the RUN, man! You saw what you were up against and you knew you couldn't win. To be honest I expected better... *he halts a mere ten inches away from Sonic, towering over him* I expected you to take this seriously... but you lied...

Sonic (reaching out towards Metal with one hand): Look, we can reschedule, I want you to have your "final rival battle" too, but—

Sonic is cut off as Metal Sonic punches him in the jaw with his non-cannon arm*

Metal Sonic (his eyes showing mad fury again): You don't get it, do you? This was it. I set everything up just right, it was perfect. Just me and you, with no distractions, and I was winning! And you think you can just take that away from me and delay it until another day? This isn't brunch with the girls, Sonic, this is me showing YOU that I am the superior model! This is about showing Eggman that I'm not just a tool to be thrown out before being replaced, like all the other versions! *Metal's voice begins to shake* This is about showing myself that I'm not just some scrapped piece of junk that should have just let its batteries die while it lay broken on some magic ball of rock! It's now or never, Sonic. Now it's time to go to sleep...

Metal raises his cannon arm once again and begins charging a killing blow. Sonic glances back and forth, casting around for something to say. Anything will do, he just needs to keep Metal talking*

Sonic: So all you want to do is kill me, tonight?

Metal Sonic: It's what I've waited a decade for, and it's what's gonna happen right now.

Sonic (twirling his pointer finger in a circle): Yeah, cool, but then what? What purpose will you have once I'm dead?

Metal Sonic (lowering his arm again): For GOD'S SAKE! As your opponent I want you to have your last words. Considering how you screwed me over in this fight, I think I'm being damn generous. So now will you shut up?

Sonic (shrugging): Nah. I'm just curious. You said you're done with Eggman, mostly. You don't care about killing my friends... so once I'm dead, what will you do?

Metal almost gives an angry retort, but then he stops to think. What would he have left*

Metal Sonic: (This is obviously stalling, of COURSE he's stalling, but... he's right. Dammit, he's right. What is there for a Metal Sonic to live for if Eggman and Sonic are out of the question? I've seen some nice towns and landscapes during my travels, but I can't base my life entirely on some pretty mountains and trees!! I... I can't just...)

Sonic: *sigh* Listen, I seriously think you should hold off on killing me for a while. Even if you do decide to kill me, forgetting all the existential junk about what's next for you after your meat sack double is dead... killing me might just doom the planet.

Metal Sonic (once again scowling are Sonic): The world has other protectors.

Sonic: You don't get it, it's—can I call Tails over? I want to talk this over with him too.

Metal Sonic (eyes widening in surprise): Is he trying to solve this with diplomacy?! No. No way, not a chance. I'm done with his games, I'm gonna fry him, then tear him apart until there's nothing left!!)

Metal raises his cannon for the final time. Third time's the charm, dos and then dead. Metal prepares to send his charge right through Sonic's stupid head*

Metal Sonic: You NEVER took this seriously! After all I've done, you act like a selfish child that can't even appreciate the time I—DIE!! DIE DIE DIE!!! You hapless water bag, I don't know why I ever considered you a worthy opponent! Time for you to—

Now it's Metal's turn to be cut off via a punch to the jaw. Knuckles the Echidna sends his fist into the side of Metal's head, swooping down from his glide. Sonic can see the lights fade from Metal Sonic's cracked screen before Knuckles' feet even touch the ground. Out cold before he even hit the floor, Metal is knocked off his feet and back several meters before becoming a lifeless hunk of metal on the rooftop*

Knuckles (taking a boxer's stance): KNOCK KNOCK!! You've got a lot to answer for you piece of—

Sonic (interrupting Knuckles' complaints): Hey—HEY!

he sees Sonic out of the corner of his eye and abandons his stance as he turns toward his friend*

Knuckles: Oh, hey, Sonic. You owe me, by the way.

Sonic (rolling his eyes): Yeah, I know. Seriously though, thanks. Just... don't hurt him anymore, I need to ask him some things. Where's everyone else?

Knuckles: Shadow brought Sally back to her dad so she could go home. Blaze went back to wherever she and Silver are staying. Shadow and Silver are on their way to help me take you home.

Sonic (squinting up at Knuckles): You're taking us home?

Shadow (landing on the rooftop to Sonic's right, strolling casually between Sonic and Knuckles): You can barely move. The Whirlwind is cooked to perfection. Wave is out cold. We're taking you home ourselves.

Silver (hovering down onto the concrete): That's right! So... *he glances around at everybody, standing or otherwise* who am I getting?

Sonic (pointing over at Metal's limp form): Get Metal, and maybe Wave too so that nobody else has to double up on how many people they're carrying. Now... *Sonic holds his arms out towards Knuckles, grinning in spite of himself* Can I has upsies?

Knuckles (raising a fist): You'll have em as soon as you apologize for whatever on god's green planet just came out of your mouth.

Sonic (rolling his eyes): Just pick me up, man. It hurts to breathe...!

Knuckles takes Sonic's right hand as if he were shaking it, before shifting his grip to a more manly position. That handshake that forms the arm-wrestling position. The handshake that Sonic returns, gripping Knuckles' gloves hand with his own. Sonic was fighting unconsciousness long before then, and now he finds it incredibly hard to stay awake. Sonic hears Shadow and Silver bickering in the background, and he's suddenly really glad that Knuckles gave High School a chance*

Sonic (almost a whisper): Thanks, Knux... you're a real pal...

And then black*

To Be Continued...

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And thus ends the most action-heavy section for most of the season. Sweet mother of Jesus Christ, our lord and savior almighty in heaven this took WAY too long to wright (almost 6 whole months)!! Writer's block can suck it, but I had a hard time deciding how I wanted to end this fight from the beginning.

Hopefully I haven't lost y'all in the time in between chapters. Hang in there, and stay safe.


End file.
